Italian government limits recognition of parental rights to biological parents only

Gay rights activists on Tuesday condemned homophobic moves by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government, including limiting recognition of parental rights to biological parents in families with only same-sex parents. it was done.

In a move expected to affect hundreds of families, the government has asked the city of Milan to stop automatically recording both parents in same-sex couples on city registers. It was the last major city to continue a practice briefly adopted by Rome, Turin, Naples and elsewhere after Italy’s high court in 2016 made it easier for homosexuals to adopt a partner’s biological child.

The piece of bureaucracy is key to recognizing parental rights for a range of everyday situations such as authorizing medical treatment or participation outside the classroom.

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Rainbow Families’ president, Alessia Crocini, alleged that Rome’s move to prevent Milan from automatically registering both parents in gay families exposed the government’s homophobia. The government has not issued any official statement on the move.

“This government is the maximum expression of homophobia,” she said. “Melonie says that for a child to grow up well, they need a mother and a father, even though decades of research say otherwise. This is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of families with two gay parents.”

Activists demonstrate in favor of rights for same-sex couples in Rome on January 23, 2016. The Italian government has limited the parental rights of gay couples, a move condemned as homophobic by gay rights activists. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

Yuri Guiana of the activist group All Out said the move “throws thousands of families into uncertainty.”

The move was reported to the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala, by a state-appointed prefect, on the same day a Senate commission blocked an effort to recognize birth certificates of children of same-sex couples issued by other EU states. Had given.

Sala vowed to fight for legislation giving equal rights to gay parents, but in the meantime said he could not afford to let staff at the city’s registry office stand up against the government’s decision.

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Sala’s administration not only transcribed documents from other countries recognizing the rights of gay and lesbian parents, but also granted equal recognition to same-sex parents of children born in Italy.

Other cities had already stopped the practice as administration changed hands and the political winds changed in Rome. In the absence of such recognition, the non-birth mother or father would have to go through an adoption process to establish parental rights – which could take years.

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Former Turin mayor Chiara Appendino, the first mayor to recognize the rights of both same-sex parents without court approval, said the new ban was “only the last slap against these families.” She joined Sala’s call for legislation recognizing their rights.

Italy’s failure to recognize the rights of both parents in same-sex marriages has affected some 150,000 children, the Italian Gay Party, which formed in 2020 to politicize the fight against anti-gay discrimination, estimates. It is attended by hundreds of people from the city of Milan.

Gay Party spokesman Fabrizio Marazzo called on Italian mayors to reverse the government’s request and register both gay parents in an act of civil disobedience.

“When norms are discriminatory, mayors should have the courage to say so,” he said.