Italy: Interior Minister ‘open’ to gay civil unions, but remains against equal marriage and adoption
In a mixed bag of comments on Thursday, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, appeared to suggest he was “open” to the idea of introducing civil partnerships, including for gay couples.
Despite insisting that such a move be made “on condition that the value of the family, made up of a man and a woman, is not denied”, Alfano suggested that civil unions could be an option.
In the interview with La Repubblica, he said: “In the context of the civil code, we have no difficulty reasoning about a matter that exists, namely the protection of people living together, including gays.”
He did go on, however, to state continued opposition to same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption, saying: “No to gay marriage, no to adoption by gay couples or surrogacy, no to pension reversibility.”
The comments by Alfano were hailed by Laura Cantini, a Democratic Party senator, who said that “all the conditions” were in place to “rapidly” introduce civil unions.
The leader of the Socialist Party Riccardo Nencini, went even further to call on the Italian Parliament to discuss “third generation civil rights”, in a broader sense, saying Italy was “guiltily behind” on some issues.
A spokesman for Italy’s Gay Centre, however, criticised the comments, suggesting they were more negative than positive.
