Pride of Rome, second chapter. The dispute over sponsorship withdrawn from the Lazio region at the rainbow event also continued yesterday. Part of the gesture of détente advanced by the president of the Giunta, Francesco Rocca. Asked about the matter by some journalists, Rocca said, referring to Pride spokesman Mario Colmarino: “I apologize publicly for the manipulation of the grant and I am immediately ready to restore sponsorship.” And he added: «We had convincedly adhered to Gay Pride, we have a society that has many steps to take and Colmarino’s first thought, accepting our sponsorship, was the rented womb. The Constitutional Court defined the Gpa as an offensive practice that harms women’s rights. When it comes to children’s rights, you have to be careful.”
It was precisely the demand for the rent of the uterus (a practice that is against the law in Italy) on the part of the spokesperson for the initiative, in fact, which justified the option for revoking the sponsorship. Hand outstretched, however, for a course correction. In a debate that lasted throughout the day. The leader of the Forza Italia group in the Lazio region, Giorgio Simeoni, writes: «The sponsorship of the event was initially granted in good faith, but I consider the later decision to revoke it correct in the face of the organizers’ provocation to associate the Region’s membership to an illegal practice such as the rented uterus”. From the Democratic Party, MEP Alessandra Moretti, on the contrary, points the finger at an Italy that “runs the risk of becoming a retrograde country in civil rights and, therefore, weakened in its democratic spirit”. And the response to Rocca’s appeal? Negative, of course. Colamarino closes the door: «Clearly there will be no excuses for Roma Pride’s statements by Rocca. No one manipulated anyone. We only made a formal request to the Lazio region and they responded by granting free legal assistance». And again: «There was no previous interlocution. Maybe they needed to understand and know what our requests were – which have been the same for years – before granting the sponsorship».
And below the accusations: “On the part of an obscurantist right, he actually hides homophobia. The problem for them is our community. And they use the Gpa as a pretext», says Colmarino. The Pride theme, however, is not just limited to the Lazio region. Debate over the event also ignites in Lombardy. The Regional Council, in fact, rejected a motion (presented by Luca Paladini, founder of the «sentinelli» and of Pirellone with the «Civic Pact») that obliged the president of the Giunta to delegate a representative, with an institutional band, to the event of Milan. Says Silvia Scurati, regional councilor for the League: “The issue of discrimination is certainly very important. But having said that, we cannot, as representatives of the institutions, turn our backs and pretend that events like Gay Pride are not often accompanied by folkloric, sometimes blasphemous, episodes that have little to do with the issue of discrimination and inclusion”.
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
