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# Italy moves to criminalise violence against LGBTQ+ people
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/italy-moves-to-criminalise-violence-against-lgbtq-people/
- Published: 2020-11-06T13:30:12.000Z
- Updated: 2020-11-06T10:38:28.000Z
- Description: LGBTQ+ activists in Italy are celebrating after the lower house of parliament voted to pass a bill which would make violence against LGBTQ+ people and disabled people a hate crime.
- Author: Rachel Badham
- Tags: News, Politics, Europe, Italy, LGBTQ, Women's Rights

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/italy-lgbt-1.jpg)

LGBTQ+ activists in **Italy** are celebrating after the lower house of parliament voted to pass a bill which would make violence against LGBTQ+ people and disabled people a hate crime punishable by imprisonment. It would also criminalise misogyny and is due to be officially enforced in early 2021\. According to [**The Guardian**](https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/world/activists-hail-steps-to-make-violence-against-lgbt-people-hate-crime-in-italy/ar-BB1aISou?ref=scenemag.co.uk), the bill was drafted by Democratic party politician, **Alessandro Zan**, as an extension of an existing law that punishes racist violence, hatred and discrimination.

Zan said: *“If we succeed in definitively approving this law, Italy will finally be a country that accepts LGBTQ+ rights, because right now we are among the last countries in Europe for the social acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Moreover, it also criminalises hate against disabled people and misogyny, so it’s a very advanced law.”*

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/italy-pride-1.jpg)

As Zan highlighted, Italy’s progression towards equal treatment of the LGBTQ+ community has been considerably slower than other European countries. 2020 has seen multiple attacks on LGBTQ+ people in the country such as the killing of **Maria Paola Gaglione** and her transgender partner, **Ciro Migliore**. [**Monica Cirinnà**](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/italy-split-over-lgbtq-rights/) – of the centre-left Democratic party in Italy – attributes Italy’s continuous reluctance to improve social conditions for the LGBTQ+ community in line with other western countries to a *‘deeply rooted patriarchal and catholic culture’* in the region, but insists *‘it’s time to move on’.*