Italian Public Opinion
During a protest on 13 January 2007, 50,000 gay rights activists, according to the police, protested in Vatican City in favour of the creation of a new law regulating same-sex unions.
According to a poll in February 2007, 67% of Italian Catholics backed the draft bill proposed by the Prodi coalition, and 80% of Italians said they supported the law. On the other hand, the Autumn 2006 Eurobarometer survey showed that only 31% of Italians thought that same-sex marriages should be allowed throughout Europe and 24% were in favour of opening up adoption to same-sex couples. This was below the European Union average of 44% and 32% respectively.
A Eurispes poll conducted in early 2009 showed that 40.4% of Italians supported same-sex civil marriage, while 18.5% supported civil unions but not marriage. Thus, 58.9% of respondents supported some form of recognition for same-sex couples. The only area with majority support for same-sex marriage was in the north-west (Piedmont and Liguria, where 54.8% were in favour of it). Nevertheless, in every Italian region except the islands, a majority supported some form of recognition for same-sex couples. Among those who consider themselves on the political left, 66.5% supported same-sex marriage. The same poll was repeated in January 2010. 41.0% of respondents now supported same-sex marriage, with 20.4% supporting civil unions. Thus, support for some form of recognition for same-sex couples rose to 61.4%.
On the occasion of the International Day against Homophobia on 17 May 2012 the National Bureau of Statistics (ISTAT) released an official report commissioned by the Government on the attitudes towards homosexuality in the Italian population. The poll, conducted in 2011, found that 62.8% of the interviewees are in favour of civil unions with the same rights as marriage. Those who agree with same-sex marriage increased to 43.9% with Central Italy (52.6%), 18–34 years old (53.4%) and women (47%) being the geographical, age and gender categories most in favour. Significantly, every region supported civil unions, with support being highest in Central Italy (72.2%) and lowest in the South and Islands (51.2%).
| Italians support for gay rights | 2009 | 2010 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
| YES | YES | YES | |
| recognition for same-sex couples | 58.9% | 61.4% | 62.8% |
| same-sex marriage | 40.4% | 41% | 43.9% |
| civil unions but not marriage | 18.5% | 20.4% | 18.9% |
10 March 2007 saw a significant demonstration in Rome in favour of a same-sex law in order to avoid it being forfeited by Mr Prodi. Thousands of activists waved alarm clocks in the air, signalling it was high time for such a law. Some government officials (such as the Minister for Equal Opportunities, Barbara Pollastrini, and the Minister for Social Solidarity, Paolo Ferrero) took part in the demonstration and were later criticized by Mr Prodi for their participation.
On 12 March 2007 the Conference of Italian Bishops (CEI) staged a counter-demonstration in Rome against same-sex marriage. Police sources claim that about 800,000 people went to the demonstration, including some Catholic Government ministers such as Clemente Mastella and Giuseppe Fioroni.
On 16 June 2007, the yearly national Gay Pride was held in Rome and hit a record attendance of about 1,000,000 demonstrators. The Pride parade had a strong political flavour, as LGBT associations meant it to be a response to the opposition demonstrations.
Two Italian filmmakers, Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, followed the whole discussion of the DICO law and made an award-winning documentary Suddenly, Last Winter (Improvvisamente l'inverno scorso).
Read more about this topic: Recognition Of Same-sex Unions In Italy
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