A-Infos (en) Italy, FDCA, Cantiere #36 - A Rainbow Will Bury Them - Stefania Baschieri (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Over thirty years ago, Italy celebrated its first Pride Parade. It was 
July 1994, and in Rome, a multitude of people from all over Italy took 
to the streets to demand their existence and their rights. Today, after 
more than three decades, the Pride organization continues to face a 
series of criticisms and attacks. This event, which takes place in the 
month of June and celebrates LGBTQIA+ pride in Italy and around the 
world, is seen by some sectors of society not only as a "carnival" or a 
provocation in and of itself, but also as essentially useless, given 
that the vast majority of Western countries now have protective laws 
(from marriage to provisions against hate crimes), some more effective 
than others (as in the case of civil unions in Italy).
The question we often hear is this: does it still make sense to hold 
Pride today? The answer can only be based on the fact that alongside 
those who support LGBTQIA+ rights, there are still those who give ample 
space and support to homophobic positions, perhaps justifying them with 
freedom of thought; those who believe there are more pressing issues to 
address, as if the defense and extension of rights were something 
marginal; and finally, those who insult (more or less subtly) both Pride 
marches and queer people, fueling a climate of hatred and intolerance 
that often erupts into actual verbal and physical aggression.
This sentiment is certainly not new in our country; but certainly today, 
with this political climate and the multiple statements by various 
right-wing figures (and others) against rainbow issues, a homophobic 
sentiment that was likely dormant and only emerged with the arrival of 
the Meloni government is being comforted and legitimized.
Every year since 2009, the Rainbow Europe project has analyzed the 
situation regarding community rights in 49 European countries and 
assigned a score from 0 to 100 based on criteria divided into seven 
thematic categories: equality and non-discrimination, family, hate 
crimes, legal gender recognition, intersex bodily integrity, civil 
society space, and asylum.
In this ranking, Italy ranks 36th in Europe, falling two places from 
2023: a sovereignist and conservative Italy that is even surpassed by 
Orban's Hungary.
After all, why should we be surprised, given the statements of some 
representatives of the majority, such as the Fratelli d'Italia MP 
Federico Mollicone, who "calmly" stated in a broadcast that "same-sex 
couples are not legal in Italy," or the Fratelli d'Italia Senator Lucio 
Malan, who recalled in a radio program that according to the Bible, 
homosexuality is an "abomination." But if we broaden our gaze to the 
European level, we discover that the situation is not much better.

In fact, several dozen MEPs in the European Parliament support the 
"Pro-Life and Family Manifesto," a document of intent whose text 
includes six programmatic points: the total denial of the right to 
abortion; support for the family understood solely as a "union between a 
man and a woman founded on marriage"; opposition to the practice of 
"surrogacy" (a derogatory term for surrogacy); opposition to "green 
policies based on anti-human and anti-natalist ideological 
environmentalism"; opposition to the "hypersexualization (?) and 
hyper-digitalization of minors"; The fight against gender ideology and 
the LGBTQIA+ agenda
It's no surprise that most of the signatories are from the Brothers of 
Italy party: in fact, the "pro-life and family manifesto" perfectly 
aligns with the civil, sexual, and reproductive rights policies of the 
Meloni government, which has repeatedly evoked alleged 
"European-sponsored gender indoctrination" in Italian schools.
In addition to Meloni, several members of the current majority have 
vehemently attacked the phantom "gender indoctrination of children," 
which they claim is being carried out through the Zan bill against 
homolesbobitransphobia, unisex dolls, Disney films (yes, it's not a 
joke), and even Peppa Pig, the beloved cartoon of girls and boys, all of 
which are considered dangerous vehicles of "gender ideology."
The list could go on and on, given that the bogeyman of "gender 
ideology" is an integral part of the propaganda arsenal of the right, 
ultra-Catholic movements, and even the ecclesiastical hierarchies.
But how did this phrase originate and why has it spread so widely? And 
who are its targets?
Gender theory, in fact, doesn't exist, but was literally fabricated by 
the Vatican in the mid-1990s (and is still being pursued today) with two 
goals: the first is to distort, demonize, and delegitimize analyses and 
theories developed by the feminist and LGBT movements; the second is to 
reaffirm the essentialist vision according to which men and women are 
natural and naturally complementary groups, with everything that follows 
in terms of the inferiority of women and LGBT people, thus denying the 
many gender studies that demonstrate that what appears socially 
"natural" is actually the product of naturalized relationships of 
domination.
In reality, gender theories, which are different from the hoaxes of 
gender theory, emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by thinkers 
like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. They emerged as an 
interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the sociocultural significance 
of sexuality and gender identity. They questioned certain laws that 
ultraconservatives would consider eternal and universal, but which were 
instead merely the product of a certain era and culture; particularly 
capitalism, which is rooted in the complete domination of bodies for 
productive and reproductive purposes, resulting in tight control over 
sexuality, repressing and denying any subjectivity that doesn't conform 
to the pre-established model.
Feminism and gender studies are closely linked, as both challenge the 
power structures that define the role of women and minorities in 
society, highlighting how gender is not just a biological issue, but 
also a social construct that influences people's opportunities and 
experiences.
Massimo Prearo, a researcher in Political Science at the University of 
Verona, states that "what a certain political rhetoric encompasses under 
the term 'gender theory' is actually a whole body of work, approaches, 
including feminist studies of and about women, and therefore also 
theories that, in the second half of the twentieth century in 
particular, introduced a reflection on the forms of power that structure 
our society and determine women's subordination, inequality and 
gender-based violence, and even the oppression of sexual minorities-in a 
word, (a reflection) on patriarchy." "Gender theory exists as a 
rhetorical device developed by the Vatican and reactionary movements to 
monstrously disseminate the knowledge developed by feminism and 
intellectuals close to the LGBTQIA+ movement, and, above all, 
anti-discrimination interventions in schools," states Lorenzo Bernini, 
associate professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Verona. 
"Ultimately," Bernini continues, "to counter the social and political 
gains of the feminist and LGBTQIA+ movements. It is one of the 
ideological glues of right-wing populism, because it allows us to 
identify a population of white mothers and fathers called upon to defend 
their children from a perverse ideology that would pervert them."
This "anti-gender" rhetoric takes predominantly paranoid and 
conspiratorial forms: behind it is an idea that economic and financial 
powers, the pharmaceutical empire, all powerful lobbies conspiring 
behind the backs of governments and "normal" people to impose a "single 
thought," censorship, and the deprivation of resources that would be 
diverted to the interests of the lobbies themselves and, therefore, 
taken away from the working classes.
The conspiracy theory aspect goes hand in hand with misinformation and 
an obsessive narrative that tells of a supposedly omnipotent "gay lobby" 
plotting in the shadows to undermine the "natural family," deny the 
biological differences between men and women, legitimize extreme sexual 
practices, legalize pedophilia, and brainwash boys and girls to make 
them gay or, even worse, transgender (sic).
The war on "gender," along with the defense of the "natural family" and 
the "Christian roots of Europe," now constitute the rhetorical and 
ideological cornerstones of the European right's new political manifesto 
(and not only given Donald Trump's recent measures to deny sexual 
orientation and gender identity and reaffirm that there are only two 
sexes, male and female, thus erasing the entire LGBTQIA+ community with 
the stroke of a pen). At the same time, it constitutes a full-fledged 
government program aimed at attacking and erasing all issues related to 
homoparenting, gender identity, homolesbotransphobia, and the 
affirmation of transgender people, issues that have not been resolved at 
all in Italy.
Therefore, returning to the initial question of whether Pride is still 
necessary today, the answer is still YES. To reclaim freedom rights that 
are still unrecognized, and there is no desire to recognize them; but, 
even if there were progress in recognizing denied rights, it would still 
be important to celebrate this day because it carries with it an 
important evocative moment. Indeed, we commemorate the Stonewall riots, 
the 1969 uprising that changed the narrative and political action of 
LGBTQIA+ people in the United States and, in turn, throughout much of 
the rest of the world.
Therefore, just as we celebrate other important political anniversaries, 
it is right to remember these events as well, and even more so, in a 
historical moment in which rights and democratic structures are under 
siege by populist and sovereignist forces in government, taking to the 
streets is not only a right but also a duty.
And this must be done with the understanding that the LGBT movement's 
struggle is also a class issue, as discrimination based on sexual 
orientation is often intertwined with economic and social inequalities. 
Indeed, it is precisely LGBTQIA+ people who face the greatest 
difficulties in accessing employment, housing, and healthcare services, 
and these barriers are obviously amplified for those from disadvantaged 
socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, economic insecurity can make it 
more difficult for these people to report discrimination or escape 
hostile environments, thus increasing their vulnerability.
The repression of otherness today can take many forms, as the examples 
from current events demonstrate, but all are intertwined with the 
current system of exploitation and its cultural and educational 
components, which LGBTQIA+ struggles are fighting against. And it is 
through this intersection between the struggles for civil rights and 
those for social justice that the demands of the LGBT movement must be 
considered an important moment in the growth of collective class 
consciousness and the awareness that only by overcoming this social 
model can we build a society no longer based on exploitation and the 
accumulation of capital, but on well-being and freedom.

http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
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