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Alessandro Zan, a member of the lower house of the Italian parliament, has the answers to these questions. He is currently one of the politicians most interested in Rome by the foreign media. A representative of the Democratic Party (“partito democratico”) has drafted one of the strictest laws in Europe to legalize the fines and imprisonment of the instigators of homophobia, transphobia and lesbophobia.
In November last year, the Italian Chamber of Deputies voted in favor of the “legge Zan” (Zan law) and approved it by majority. The draft was presented to the country’s senate, but deliberations in the upper house of parliament stalled.
From the point of death, the legal norms regarding homophobic crimes and punishments were moved by the famous Italian rapper Fedez in strange circumstances. During the concert, which was broadcast live on RAI state television, he began to speak about politicians who publicly promote coping with homosexuals. Zan’s bill has become the center of public attention.
What is the essence of the new law? Mr. Zan has expanded the scope of the existing Legge Mancino law, which criminalizes “phrases, gestures, actions, slogans designed to incite hatred, violence, discrimination on racial, ethnic, religious or national grounds.” Article 601 bis of the Penal Code will be complemented with a prison sentence of 6 months to 4 years, establishing discriminatory actions against sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability.
Congressman Zan hopes that the shocking sentences on burning homosexuals will be punished if the Senate passes his bill. “It just came to our knowledge then. It seems to me that this would not be censorship at all. That would be a question of citizenship,” says the politician.
However, legge Zan has already been criticized in Italy and abroad for potentially restricting freedom of opinion and expression. The author of the bill disagrees with the following statements: “Freedom of expression cannot be restricted in any way, article 21 of our constitution confirms this very clearly. Several disputes, the controversy usually arises when a debate begins: what is freedom of opinion and what is hate speech. When a person says they will burn their gay son, it is no longer freedom of opinion. It is an incitement to hatred and violence. “
Mr. Zan maintains that freedom of opinion ends when things are said in public that undermine a person’s dignity or endanger their life. Asked if, for example, the phrase – “people of a certain orientation disgust me” – would be an opinion or an object of articles of the Penal Code, the politician replied: “No. I do not think that this is an incitement to hatred. This is a personal opinion. On the other hand, a lot depends on the context in which it is expressed: at home or, let’s say, in a public television debate “.
The introduction of aggravating circumstances for incitement to homotransphobia in the Italian Penal Code has received a great deal of public attention. There are heated debates, political parties, social movements expressing conflicting opinions. A. Zan admits: “Yes, my law is not supported, for example, by well-known feminists in the country. Unfortunately, some groups in this women’s movement are driven by far-right ideals and religious fanaticism. “
Right-wing Italian parties have also presented a version of their bill, but Alessandro Zan is convinced that it is a frustrating setback: “In Italy, we already have a law that treats racist hate crimes as an aggravating circumstance. The penalty for this type of crime is increased by 50%. the amount of the usual penalty provided for in the Penal Code. The right has decided to go back, to reduce the aggravation of racist crimes. “
Mr. Zan also opposes the proposal to abandon the transgender protection scheme. “This is a long-standing ideological debate … that transgender women are not real women … This is unacceptable, because transgender people are one of the most discriminated groups in society. Unfortunately, Italy ranks first in the EU in terms of the number of homicides of transgender people “.
The politician is convinced: “We need a law to protect vulnerable people because unfortunately they have to live in a particularly hostile social context in which their differences are constantly stigmatized.”
“Get rid of the patriarchal culture!”
“The Istanbul Convention was ratified by Rome 8 years ago. Has anything changed significantly in your country?” – A journalist from Delfi asked the Italian MP.
The ratification of the Istanbul Convention in our country has been significant due to the change in the cultural climate with respect to LGBT people. In 2016, we enacted the Civil Association Law, which finally gave people of the same sex the legally disputed opportunity to enter into a partnership agreement. Of course, this law is by no means perfect, it is only halfway there, because the ultimate goal would be to legitimize a uniform and egalitarian institution of marriage. Then there would be no more Class A citizens and Class B citizens.
What impact did the convention have on the country’s legislation?
The Istanbul Convention is important to us because it clearly establishes the need to emphasize policies to curb hatred and violence. It legitimizes the anti-discrimination concept of gender identity and proposes complementing the criminal code with the concept of identity and extending protection to victims of transphobia or misogyny.
Do you see a link between the pandemic, quarantine and transphobia and violations of the dignity of women?
Yes, transphobic hatred, misogyny has peaked today due to the pandemic. We have a lot of data from the ISTAT (Italian Institute of Statistics), from the University of Milan, they speak clearly: contempt, the number of violations of the dignity of women on the Internet has increased dramatically and affects their careers and private lives.
When preparing the hate crime bill, were you probably interested in the experiences of other countries?
The question of gender identity is addressed in the legislation of France, Spain, the United Kingdom and more or less in all EU countries. Except, of course, countries like Poland, Hungary. There, government action goes in the opposite direction: even closed zones have been established in Poland where LGBT activities are prohibited. Recently, a member of the French cabinet, a man who does not hide homosexuality, by the way, wanted to visit these areas, but was not allowed to enter. What does this all mean? We must constantly fight so that the rights once won do not last forever. Well, and those initiatives that Italy has now taken have resonated, the EU countries are following our example.
You hint at gender stereotypes. Explain in more detail.
A certain patriarchal culture has formed patterns, identity stereotypes, which later lay the foundations for hatred of identity. If we explain in school that mothers have to take care of the house, wash and iron, and dads have to work to bring a salary home, then we are teaching social gender stereotypes. If we leave children free to choose for themselves what toys to play with, what clothes to wear, what colors they like, in other words, we give them the opportunity to express themselves, they will not be locked in a cage of identity stereotypes.
You probably already know that, for example, in Lithuania, a certain part of society is anxious about the Istanbul Convention, about traditional family values, about the influence of LGBT people. What would be your advice for Lithuania?
I think this is precisely the influence of the aforementioned patriarchal culture, which has been reinforced over time by religion. Specific cultural patterns have emerged; As long as you don’t go beyond them, all is well, but any attempt to escape them ends with the proclamation of you as “abbiato” (translated from Italian – despicable, incomplete). I think the opposite is true: the development of LGBT rights does not seek to destroy the traditional family at all.
On the other hand, what is a traditional family these days? It is possible to be born into an absolutely traditional family, but then the parents can divorce, one of the parents can marry the husband or wife of the other divorced family, there will be an unrelated relationship with the false brothers and sisters in the family. . The family can change, experience evolution, that is why it would be correct not to speak of family, but of families, the plural.
What family model do you think would be the correct one?
A family governed by love, sincere mutual feelings, a family where each of its members can develop their talents, choose the most suitable way of life for them.
The opposite is the case of a family that says, “this is true, and this is wrong”, in such families any deviation from the canons of values formed ends in their renouncing their homosexual children. We see statistics of youth suicides, boys and girls choose death because families reject it.
Therefore: traditional families can be toxic, fostering exclusion rather than communion. I know that problems of this kind are common in Central and Eastern Europe. But we are seeing changes. The tragic death of the mayor of Gdańsk is an emblem of courage and modern change.
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