Mayor Roberto Gualtieri headed a
colourful procession made up of thousands celebrating the LGBT
community on Saturday as Roma Pride 2023 got under way after an
run-up overshadowed by a row that saw the Lazio regional
government pulling its sponsorship of the event.
The banner at the front of the march read "Queeresistenza"
(Queer-resistance) as the procession featuring 35 carnival
floats departed from the capital's Piazza della Repubblica.
Participants included members of many opposition parties,
including Elly Schlein, the leader of Gualtieri's centre-left
Democratic Party (PD), the 5-Star Movement (M5S), former
minister Maria Elena Boschi of the centrist Italia Viva (IV)
party and former foreign minister and European Commissioner Emma
Bonino.
Lazio Governor Francesco Rocca withdrew the region's
sponsorship, accusing organizers of twisting the agenda for the
event to lobby in favour of surrogacy, which is a crime in
Italy.
It came after Rome Pride spokesperson Mario Colamarino, who is
also the president of the historic gay rights group Circolo
Mario Mieli, criticised a bill currently before parliament that
aims to make surrogacy a universal crime.
This would make it prosecute Italians who resort to using
surrogate mothers in countries like Spain and the US where it is
legal.
Many gay couples in Italy have had children via surrogacy.
Furthermore, in March the government drew criticism from the
opposition and rights activists after it instructed city mayors
to stop registering both members of a same-sex couple as the
parents of a child via a procedure based on the transcription
into Italian civic registers of the foreign birth certificates
of children conceived via surrogacy or assisted fertility, which
is only available to heterosexual couples in Italy, citing a
ruling by the Court of Cassation, Italy's highest court.
This has led to concern that same-sex parent families will face
multiple practical and legal problems, with only the member of
the couple who is the biological parent of the child registered
as its legal parent.
On Friday Gualtieri on Friday registered two lesbian couples as
the parents of children despite the government saying the
practise is not legal.
"I'm here today because it's important," said Schlein, who has
come out as bisexual.
"The PD will always be where LGBTQ+ rights are protected and
promoted, starting with equal status for (gay) marriage,
adoptions and the recognition of the children of same-sex
couples".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
