Over thirty years ago, Italy celebrated its first Pride Parade. It was
July 1994, and in Rome, a multitude of people from all over Italy tookto the streets to demand their existence and their rights. Today, after
more than three decades, the Pride organization continues to face a
series of criticisms and attacks. This event, which takes place in the
month of June and celebrates LGBTQIA+ pride in Italy and around the
world, is seen by some sectors of society not only as a "carnival" or a
provocation in and of itself, but also as essentially useless, given
that the vast majority of Western countries now have protective laws
(from marriage to provisions against hate crimes), some more effective
than others (as in the case of civil unions in Italy).
The question we often hear is this: does it still make sense to hold
Pride today? The answer can only be based on the fact that alongside
those who support LGBTQIA+ rights, there are still those who give ample
space and support to homophobic positions, perhaps justifying them with
freedom of thought; those who believe there are more pressing issues to
address, as if the defense and extension of rights were something
marginal; and finally, those who insult (more or less subtly) both Pride
marches and queer people, fueling a climate of hatred and intolerance
that often erupts into actual verbal and physical aggression.
This sentiment is certainly not new in our country; but certainly today,
with this political climate and the multiple statements by various
right-wing figures (and others) against rainbow issues, a homophobic
sentiment that was likely dormant and only emerged with the arrival of
the Meloni government is being comforted and legitimized.
Every year since 2009, the Rainbow Europe project has analyzed the
situation regarding community rights in 49 European countries and
assigned a score from 0 to 100 based on criteria divided into seven
thematic categories: equality and non-discrimination, family, hate
crimes, legal gender recognition, intersex bodily integrity, civil
society space, and asylum.
In this ranking, Italy ranks 36th in Europe, falling two places from
2023: a sovereignist and conservative Italy that is even surpassed by
Orban's Hungary.
After all, why should we be surprised, given the statements of some
representatives of the majority, such as the Fratelli d'Italia MP
Federico Mollicone, who "calmly" stated in a broadcast that "same-sex
couples are not legal in Italy," or the Fratelli d'Italia Senator Lucio
Malan, who recalled in a radio program that according to the Bible,
homosexuality is an "abomination." But if we broaden our gaze to the
European level, we discover that the situation is not much better.
In fact, several dozen MEPs in the European Parliament support the
"Pro-Life and Family Manifesto," a document of intent whose text
includes six programmatic points: the total denial of the right to
abortion; support for the family understood solely as a "union between a
man and a woman founded on marriage"; opposition to the practice of
"surrogacy" (a derogatory term for surrogacy); opposition to "green
policies based on anti-human and anti-natalist ideological
environmentalism"; opposition to the "hypersexualization (?) and
hyper-digitalization of minors"; The fight against gender ideology and
the LGBTQIA+ agenda
It's no surprise that most of the signatories are from the Brothers of
Italy party: in fact, the "pro-life and family manifesto" perfectly
aligns with the civil, sexual, and reproductive rights policies of the
Meloni government, which has repeatedly evoked alleged
"European-sponsored gender indoctrination" in Italian schools.
In addition to Meloni, several members of the current majority have
vehemently attacked the phantom "gender indoctrination of children,"
which they claim is being carried out through the Zan bill against
homolesbobitransphobia, unisex dolls, Disney films (yes, it's not a
joke), and even Peppa Pig, the beloved cartoon of girls and boys, all of
which are considered dangerous vehicles of "gender ideology."
The list could go on and on, given that the bogeyman of "gender
ideology" is an integral part of the propaganda arsenal of the right,
ultra-Catholic movements, and even the ecclesiastical hierarchies.
But how did this phrase originate and why has it spread so widely? And
who are its targets?
Gender theory, in fact, doesn't exist, but was literally fabricated by
the Vatican in the mid-1990s (and is still being pursued today) with two
goals: the first is to distort, demonize, and delegitimize analyses and
theories developed by the feminist and LGBT movements; the second is to
reaffirm the essentialist vision according to which men and women are
natural and naturally complementary groups, with everything that follows
in terms of the inferiority of women and LGBT people, thus denying the
many gender studies that demonstrate that what appears socially
"natural" is actually the product of naturalized relationships of
domination.
In reality, gender theories, which are different from the hoaxes of
gender theory, emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by thinkers
like Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida. They emerged as an
interdisciplinary approach to analyzing the sociocultural significance
of sexuality and gender identity. They questioned certain laws that
ultraconservatives would consider eternal and universal, but which were
instead merely the product of a certain era and culture; particularly
capitalism, which is rooted in the complete domination of bodies for
productive and reproductive purposes, resulting in tight control over
sexuality, repressing and denying any subjectivity that doesn't conform
to the pre-established model.
Feminism and gender studies are closely linked, as both challenge the
power structures that define the role of women and minorities in
society, highlighting how gender is not just a biological issue, but
also a social construct that influences people's opportunities and
experiences.
Massimo Prearo, a researcher in Political Science at the University of
Verona, states that "what a certain political rhetoric encompasses under
the term 'gender theory' is actually a whole body of work, approaches,
including feminist studies of and about women, and therefore also
theories that, in the second half of the twentieth century in
particular, introduced a reflection on the forms of power that structure
our society and determine women's subordination, inequality and
gender-based violence, and even the oppression of sexual minorities-in a
word, (a reflection) on patriarchy." "Gender theory exists as a
rhetorical device developed by the Vatican and reactionary movements to
monstrously disseminate the knowledge developed by feminism and
intellectuals close to the LGBTQIA+ movement, and, above all,
anti-discrimination interventions in schools," states Lorenzo Bernini,
associate professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Verona.
"Ultimately," Bernini continues, "to counter the social and political
gains of the feminist and LGBTQIA+ movements. It is one of the
ideological glues of right-wing populism, because it allows us to
identify a population of white mothers and fathers called upon to defend
their children from a perverse ideology that would pervert them."
This "anti-gender" rhetoric takes predominantly paranoid and
conspiratorial forms: behind it is an idea that economic and financial
powers, the pharmaceutical empire, all powerful lobbies conspiring
behind the backs of governments and "normal" people to impose a "single
thought," censorship, and the deprivation of resources that would be
diverted to the interests of the lobbies themselves and, therefore,
taken away from the working classes.
The conspiracy theory aspect goes hand in hand with misinformation and
an obsessive narrative that tells of a supposedly omnipotent "gay lobby"
plotting in the shadows to undermine the "natural family," deny the
biological differences between men and women, legitimize extreme sexual
practices, legalize pedophilia, and brainwash boys and girls to make
them gay or, even worse, transgender (sic).
The war on "gender," along with the defense of the "natural family" and
the "Christian roots of Europe," now constitute the rhetorical and
ideological cornerstones of the European right's new political manifesto
(and not only given Donald Trump's recent measures to deny sexual
orientation and gender identity and reaffirm that there are only two
sexes, male and female, thus erasing the entire LGBTQIA+ community with
the stroke of a pen). At the same time, it constitutes a full-fledged
government program aimed at attacking and erasing all issues related to
homoparenting, gender identity, homolesbotransphobia, and the
affirmation of transgender people, issues that have not been resolved at
all in Italy.
Therefore, returning to the initial question of whether Pride is still
necessary today, the answer is still YES. To reclaim freedom rights that
are still unrecognized, and there is no desire to recognize them; but,
even if there were progress in recognizing denied rights, it would still
be important to celebrate this day because it carries with it an
important evocative moment. Indeed, we commemorate the Stonewall riots,
the 1969 uprising that changed the narrative and political action of
LGBTQIA+ people in the United States and, in turn, throughout much of
the rest of the world.
Therefore, just as we celebrate other important political anniversaries,
it is right to remember these events as well, and even more so, in a
historical moment in which rights and democratic structures are under
siege by populist and sovereignist forces in government, taking to the
streets is not only a right but also a duty.
And this must be done with the understanding that the LGBT movement's
struggle is also a class issue, as discrimination based on sexual
orientation is often intertwined with economic and social inequalities.
Indeed, it is precisely LGBTQIA+ people who face the greatest
difficulties in accessing employment, housing, and healthcare services,
and these barriers are obviously amplified for those from disadvantaged
socioeconomic backgrounds. Furthermore, economic insecurity can make it
more difficult for these people to report discrimination or escape
hostile environments, thus increasing their vulnerability.
The repression of otherness today can take many forms, as the examples
from current events demonstrate, but all are intertwined with the
current system of exploitation and its cultural and educational
components, which LGBTQIA+ struggles are fighting against. And it is
through this intersection between the struggles for civil rights and
those for social justice that the demands of the LGBT movement must be
considered an important moment in the growth of collective class
consciousness and the awareness that only by overcoming this social
model can we build a society no longer based on exploitation and the
accumulation of capital, but on well-being and freedom.
http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten