In the last year, 149 cases of violence or discrimination against people have been recorded LGBTQI+, with an average of one every two days. The alarm and data are provided by Arcigay, which keeps track of press articles and, on the occasion of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia, draws up a detailed list.
This year there have also been three murders: two transgender victims in Casino May 27, 2023 and Roma May 18, 2023, and a gay man killed on February 28 in Treviso from a minor.
Furthermore, a 13 year old boy at Palermo he committed suicide due to homophobic bullying, a rape occurred Napoli and the beating of Bruna, a trans woman, in Milan in May 2023, attacked by some local police officers.
Gabriele Piazzoni, general secretary of Arcigay, declared that “The report gives a terrible account of hatred in our country.”
One of the most alarming phenomena concerns the luring of gay adults through fake profiles on social media, which lead to meetings in which the victims are beaten and robbed. These episodes have occurred in Treviso, Florence, Perugia, Trapani, L'Aquila and Foggia.
Even the family is not always a safe place. According to a recent study by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 18% of LGBTQIA+ people in Italy said they had suffered attempts at “conversion” or “healing” from homosexuality, with the family being the main place of this violence, almost one case in five.
To combat these practices, the “Meglio a Colori” campaign was launched today, supported by all the main Arcobaleno associations, to collect signatures in favor of a bill that affirms “the universal right to sexual orientation and gender identity” and “to say stop to conversion attempts”.
The communication campaign presents three stories: a 16-year-old girl brought to the exorcist in Turin because she is a lesbian, a non-binary patient forced by the psychologist to choose one of the two genders, and a father who tried to make his son become heterosexual.
In addition to school, with episodes of bullying and discrimination, Piazzoni highlights the “hand-to-hand combat in public spaces”, that is, the stories of gays, lesbians and trans people kicked out of gyms, bars, and those offering properties for rent, attacked and insulted in the street, on the subway or in clubs.
Finally, Piazzoni criticizes the spread of fake news about homosexuality, such as those that describe it as non-existent in nature or as a disease curable with conversion therapy.
He concludes by stating that we live in times in which a general dismissed for homophobic, misogynistic and racist opinions can run as head of a majority party's list for the European Parliament, indicating that "the hater is not only cleared, but leads the line".
Article published on May 17, 2024 - 21:20 pm
