The Civil Union revolution: "A crack in the wall of bigotry."

Since 2016, 20,000 same-sex couples have benefited from the Civil Unions law, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary on May 11th. The majority are men living in major cities, but the actual number is likely higher: associations estimate that, including marriages registered abroad, the number of couples is over 30,000. "Ten years ago, it was a different world," recalls former Senator Monica Cirinnà, the primary author of Law 76, named after her. "Matteo Renzi had the courage to save the law by putting it to a vote of confidence, something that had never happened before in Italian political history regarding a law on human rights. I don't know how many others on the left would have taken that risk: if Renzi hadn't been there, the law wouldn't have existed." Cirinnà is certain about the significance of that approval: "It was a response to thousands of people who were invisible to politics and Parliament, yet they existed and were already fully integrated into our country. We only pierced that veil of bigotry, extreme Catholicism, homophobia, and false moralism; we only took the first step towards equality." The law defines civil unions as a "specific social arrangement" that allows for inheritance rights, but unlike marriage, it does not require fidelity. However, it prohibits joint adoption. Children born to the couple are considered the child of only the biological parent. Stepchild adoption is left to the discretion of individual courts. Due to the difficult approval process, Article 5 on parenthood was removed from the law. "The Five Star Movement guaranteed their votes until the night before," Cirinnà recalls with bitterness. "The next morning, they withdrew them. When they broke the agreement and we had to rejoin the majority, Alfano, as a price for their votes, demanded the removal of Article 5, which concerned parenthood: he didn't want it, nor did the Catholic Democrats of the Democratic Party, and of course, all the right-wing parties." However, the former senator hopes for the future, hoping that Italy will have equal marriage and that "those wonderful young people who defeated Meloni's referendum to give a solid majority to a concrete left" will make it happen. For Franco Grillini, honorary president of Arcigay and Gaynet, civil unions were "a revolution," and, paraphrasing John Reed's book, those past years were "the 10 years that shook the world" because "it is a law that has changed the way of seeing the family issue in Italy. It has changed the culture." Grillini also hopes for a new parliamentary majority that has the votes to extend civil marriage to homosexual couples. "We are asking all parties," says Grillini, "to include this demand in their programs. It seems that the entire center-left agrees, in words. On the 10th anniversary of civil unions, a serious reform of family law is also needed. The time is ripe, provided that we talk to everyone, as happened with civil unions." For Alessandro Zan, a member of the Democratic Party, civil unions ten years ago represented "a great milestone of civilization," although he admits that it is "a law that has been superseded." "There is a bill with my signature as the first signatory, with Elly Schlein as the second," he recalls, "which dates back to the beginning of this legislature. A comprehensive proposal presented in both the Chamber of Deputies, signed by 52 deputies, the highest number in history, and the Senate, which calls for equal marriage, adoption for single people and same-sex couples, and medically assisted procreation. Therefore, a comprehensive proposal on family law." "On the contrary," he emphasizes, "the Meloni government has attempted to limit rights with the Piantedosi circular, which aims to prevent the registration of children in the registry offices of same-sex couples. We want to win the elections and bring those rights that Italy is very behind on, in order to eliminate all inequalities, from healthcare to the minimum wage to poverty." Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA