Piazza della Repubblica will turn rainbow-bright this Saturday for the Florentine edition of #SvegliatItalia, an Italy-wide demonstration for LGBTQI rights, scheduled for 3pm.
#SvegliatItalia was created in response to continuing discussions of a bill on civil unions and rights for same-sex couples in the Italian Senate. Organizations behind the initiative include Arcigay, ArciLesbica, Agedo, Famiglie Arcobaleno and MIT.
The event manifesto and government appeal states that Italy is one of the few European countries with no legal recognition of same-sex unions, and that “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people do not enjoy the same opportunities as other Italian citizens, even though they pay taxes like everyone else. [This is] intolerable discrimination, devoid of justifications […] We ask the government and parliament to face reality, and to draft legislation as soon as possible to ensure that there is no more discrimination, and that recognize the full dignity and rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people, citizens of this country.”
Institutions that wish to formally support the initiative can write to toscana@famigliearcobaleno.org.
