Italy pushes ahead for same-sex unions

[Strengthandhonour]

Italy pushes ahead for same-sex unions
Associated Press
Tuesday Jan 30, 2007

Italian premier Romano Prodi said his center-left government is pushing ahead with a divisive proposal to grant unmarried couples legal recognition, drawing the criticism Sunday of bishops and even some of his own allies. There is no consensus within Prodi’s coalition on the issue, reflecting divisions in a bloc that ranges from Christian Democrats to Communists. But the premier met with the two ministers most involved in drafting the proposal who don’t agree on the issue, reporting progress in mediating between them.

"We have made a step forward," Prodi said after the talks Saturday at his Bologna home. "We are working...toward a plan that all the coalition will approve."

The proposal may be discussed at the next cabinet meeting late next week. Piero Fassino, leader of the Democrats of the Left, said Sunday that the proposal would give gay and straight unmarried couples "greater serenity and solidity," according to the ANSA and Apcom news agencies.

The issue is a touchy one in Italy, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation that hosts the Vatican and is still partially influenced by church positions. Monsignor Giuseppe Betori, secretary-general of the influential Italian Bishops Conference, voiced his concerns, saying Sunday that such unions "eradicate the values that we present to society."

Opposition from the church has been strong. Pope Benedict XVI has condemned same-sex unions as anarchic "pseudo-matrimony" and has launched a campaign to "protect" traditional families. Also problematic for Prodi is opposition within the coalition’s ranks. Clemente Mastella, a Christian Democrat who serves as justice minister, said he would abstain in a cabinet vote on the proposal but would likely vote against it in the senate, where Prodi has only a slim majority.

source: EDGE Boston :: Gay Boston :: News :: GLBT

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

The perversion goes on...

[Strengthandhonour]

Fools. This is what they get for picking Prodi. Berlusconi is no saint, but he atleast tried to play it to the conservative audience. Now, idiots voted for Prodi and they pay for it. I don't know if this will get passed, there is too much against it not just from the general public but from many government officials. Hopefully it won't make it.

[Arthur Gordon Pym]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

Fools. This is what they get for picking Prodi. Berlusconi is no saint, but he atleast tried to play it to the conservative audience. Now, idiots voted for Prodi and they pay for it. I don't know if this will get passed, there is too much against it not just from the general public but from many government officials. Hopefully it won't make it.

But isn't it so that Berlusconians and Prodians share fifty-fifty percentage in the Camera dei deputati? If we suppose all Berlusconians will vote against and some Prodians are not going to give their consent to it (there is one "Christian" party in the Prodian coalition, as far as I know), then it won't pass.

[Strengthandhonour]

Yes, that is right. That is why I think it won't pass. Too much of the government is against it. But I don't know how much of Berlusconi's influence is still around since he said he won't be running in the future.

[Menydh]

The registry archives of marriages might prove useful in the future!

[Strengthandhonour]

Some of the media has already started working at it..

Italian gay rights groups said they are angry at broadcaster RAI after a game show host said he was asked whether he was gay during an audition.
The incident touched off protests from members of parliament and activists, as politicians debate a measure that would legalize civil unions of gay couples in this Catholic country, Variety said.
"The issue of discrimination against homosexuals at RAI is a pressing one that needs to be resolved at all levels, from equal opportunity in the workplace to equal time in the news," said leftist lawmaker Franco Grillini, who leads the Arcigay gay rights group.
It is the second dust-up RAI experienced over gays. Parliament recently argued over the pending "Un Medico in famiglia" (A Doctor in the Family), which features two doctors living as a couple, the first time a gay couple has been depicted on RAI.
Members of Silvio Berlusconi's conservative bloc asked that the new version of the popular series be pulled before its scheduled airing in March.
Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, said RAI was trying to persuade people "that a normal family is composed of two people of the same sex."

source: RAI Gay Question Raises Advocates\' Ire - Movie News - Playfuls.com - Fun & Entertainment

[Caesar Princeps]

Our Politicians are a mass of who deserve to be or

(I apologize for such use of smilies but profane speech is not so elegant... )

Instead of wasting time on these fags, they should give me a monthly subside so that I can marry and settle down and generate Italian children, instead of waiting past 30s!

[Strengthandhonour]

Well the problem with something like that is that people would take advantage of it in negative ways sadly. Prodi is starting to become an absolute failure, his lack of support from his own political party is showing already. Some have even said that the honorable thing for him to do at this time is to resign...already

[Strengthandhonour]

It seems he is still pushing it, but with a lot of obstacles.

Italy: Cabinet Approves Rights for Gay and Unwed Couples
By IAN FISHER
Italy’s fragile government approved a draft bill legally recognizing unmarried couples, including gay ones, over the opposition of the Vatican and a member party of Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s nine-party center-left coalition. The compromise bill, making good on a campaign promise, is more restrictive than other similar laws in Europe. But it would guarantee registered couples such rights as inheriting property and receiving a deceased partner’s pension. The bill will face debate in Parliament, which must approve it.

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/wo...aliangays.html