What are LGBTQ+ rights in Italy?

This year, the internet was stirred up by news that the new Italian government, led by Giorgia Meloni, was planning to abolish official gender neutrality. The news caused an uproar, but there was one catch: Italy had never officially recognized gender neutrality.

In Italy, there was a diverse attitude towards LGBT+ people, depending on the historical stage and the person in question. There is a lot of evidence from ancient Rome that sexual intercourse between men was not taboo. Not much has been preserved about love and sex between women, but we do have documents that some Roman women underwent transition .

With the arrival of Christianity on the Apennine Peninsula, attitudes towards homosexuality changed and even voluntary sexual intercourse between men began to be punished. Over time, a social thaw came, but even in 1861, when Italy was unified, some grand duchies still considered it illegal .

Although same-sex relations between men were later legalized throughout Italy, men who had sex with men did not have it easy. During Mussolini's fascist dictatorship during World War II, homosexuality was considered reprehensible, although it was not punished by the authorities. It was never criminalized again after the war.

And how is Italy doing today?

Although sexual intercourse between men is no longer punishable, not all couples can get married here. Anyone who wants to have their relationship sealed in the eyes of the state has the option of registering (this option has existed in Italy since 2016, ten years later than in the Czech Republic).

On the other hand, Italy is ahead of the Czech Republic in one respect: You can change your official gender in Italy since 1982 (even if only to male or female), but beware, since 2015 you do not have to undergo castration or surgery to do so!

Only time will tell how Italy will develop in the field of human rights. What is certain, however, is that local LGBT+ people will not stop speaking out. It was this country that sent the first transgender person to the European Parliament as an MEP: Vladimir Luxuria, who even visited Prague Pride in 2019 .