Last Tuesday the Italian Parliment thrrew out the bill brought by members of the opposition Partito Democratico and gay rights campaigner Paola Concia to include homophobia in Italy’s bias-motivated crime laws. The chamber of deputies voted 285 to 222 with 13 abstentions against the proposal on the grounds it was unconstitutional.
Arcigay, an association representing Gay rights in Italy condemned the decision. National Arcigay President Aurelio Mancuso called the move a ‘shameful spectacle’ and commented that ‘Concia had fought for a year to bring about this small change only to have her work destroyed in 20 minutes.”
Interestingly the criminal code of Italy lists as ‘hate crimes’ all offences committed with a view to discrimination on racial, ethnic, national or religious grounds.
Thanks to ‘Wanted in Rome’ for the above article.
Perhaps Berlusconi’s government should read my post above if they want to help pull the country out of the decline it seems to be slipping into.