Italy: Several mayors to defy Interior Minister’s block on overseas same-sex marriages
Several Italian mayors have pledged disobedience after the Italian Interior Minister announced that he would block the registration of gay marriages contracted overseas.
He went on to say that marriages between same-sex couples entered into abroad, and which have already been entered into registers by civil authorities, must be cancelled and removed.
Despite these instructions, the Mayor of Bologna has refused to annul the marriages of gay and lesbian couples entered into abroad.
Alongside him, mayors in Rome, Udine, and Naples have expressed similar reactions.
Rome’s deputy mayor Luigi Nieri said: “Angelino Alfano can’t manage to concentrate on preventing crime, on security, on fighting the mafia – in short on the duties of the interior minister. He has other priorities, but I will fight for the transcription of homosexual marriages in Rome.”
The mayor of Udine Furio Honsell also said: “A question such as this will not be resolved with bureaucratic circulars, but must be taken to parliament or before the Constitutional Court.”
However, other mayors have spoken in support of the Interior Minister. Umberto Di Primio, the mayor of Chieti, said Alfano has “made the right decision.”
The city of Bologna began recognising overseas same-sex marriages last month.
How I Met Your Mother actor Neil Patrick Harris recently married in the country – but will have to file separate paperwork in the US for the marriage to be recognised.
In July, an Italian Mayor launched a proposal to ban all public gay kissing in his town.
