The yes in the House to the law against homotransphobia is "a dream come true" for Alessandro Zan . The Democratic deputy, "father" of the bill, tells Open : «I felt the weight of discrimination on my skin. Teasing them in school, elementary school, middle school and obviously high school. I tried to disguise myself to avoid being insulted or marginalized, I tried to conform to a stereotype, I essentially hid my orientation, even from my classmate. Who knows how my schoolmates would have reacted if they had known. '
"Dedicated to those who suffer discrimination and violence"
When yesterday he heard "the Chamber approves" - 265 yes, 193 no and an abstention with Forza Italia deputies Giusi Bartolozzi, Renata Polverini and Stefania Prestigiacomo who voted in favor of the law - he exulted thinking about "those who do not have a voice and to those who suffer discrimination and violence every day ". With this law, women like Martina and Erika, in the crosshairs of keyboard lions because they are lesbians, or like Camilla, whose neighbors would have punctured the four tires of the car, will be able to have justice. "I dedicate it to them," says Zan.
Now the battle moves to the Senate
In the House the situation is not idyllic with a center-right that is firmly opposed to the law and "some jokes not addressed to me directly" but which make the climate increasingly tense. Then, however, there are the "openings", such as those of Forza Italia "which has a more liberal component and attentive to rights". But the battle is only at the beginning: after the OK of the House ("if they had not presented all those amendments, we would have approved it sooner"), we will have to overcome the obstacle of the Senate where the numbers are narrower. «We try to succeed, it is doable. The bill will arrive in the Senate in a few days but will probably be approved, if all goes well, in the first months of next year, in any case by spring, hoping to be able to count on the support of a part of the opposition ».
The firm opposition of the center-right
On the rest of the House, such as on Lega and Fratelli d'Italia, Zan knows he cannot count at all: «I have heard unrepeatable things, Sgarbi even spoke of pedophilia. They come from a sexist and patriarchal culture, a backward, homophobic, misogynist right ”. The opposition, therefore, continues to barricade the Zan bill and believes that this law could lead to the "crime of opinion" and that it could limit freedom of expression. A "liberticidal" law. The national day against homophobia, lesbophobia, biphobia and transphobia, foreseen by the text for May 17 and also education against homophobia in elementary schools (amendment that, in the end, was approved in the Chamber) .