In Italy, a medical professional took to Facebook to share her views on homosexuality with a series of extremely homophobic sentiments.

These included: “It is like a psychiatric disease”, “I suspected my cat was gay, this shows that it is a disease”, “Homosexuality can lead to paedophilia'” and finally, “If (I) was Health Minister (I) would not allow gay adoptions “.

The comments have been met with backlash and some have called for an investigation by Ordine de Medici (an Italian medical association) into the comments. 

Foracchia’s comments appear under a post published by another profile, which reads: “When I was born it was forbidden to be gay, after it was accepted but had to be hidden. Then it was accepted and public. Today it is something to be proud of. I hope to die before it becomes mandatory. “

Dr Foracchia, 56, originally from Reggio Emilia, is a medical professional. She specialises in physical medicine and rehabilitation, he has been with Gaetano Pini, Italy’s oldest orthopaedic institute, since 2016, but previously worked in Piedmonte and Canton Ticino

Dr Foracchia’s comments did not go unnoticed. Advocates Yuri Guaiana and fellow medical professional Michele Usuelli have denounced the comments and called for Ordine de Medici to investigate Foracchia.

Yuri Guaiana, the president of Certi Diritti, intercepted the comments and has been speaking out against the doctor. Guaiana is an advocate for LGBT+ people and had been involved in protesting and petitioning for LGBT+ rights in Chechnya. Certi Diritti is an association for the promotion and protection of civil rights in Italy. 

She told Italian news source IlFattoQuotidiano: “The fact that a doctor would state that homosexuality is an illness, comparing it to “sexual deviants” and “paedophiles” is something extremely serious and the National Doctor Association must take action.”

Commenting with indignation was also the regional councillor of +Europa in Lombardy and neonatologist at the Mangiagalli clinic in Milan, Michele Usuelli. “Comments of this kind are abhorrent, especially when they come from a doctor, and show how far we still have to go in the fight against homophobia, even among those who technically have a higher level of education.”

He also recalled that a little over a month ago, on May 29, 2019, Transgender was dropped from the list of mental disorders by World Health Organisation, showing that Foracchia is not aligned with the WHO on her stance.

These comments are especially concerning considering the increase of homophobic and transphobic violence in Italy, the government’s continuous attacks on LGBT+ families and, more recently, the far-right party Lega Nord (North League) winning seats at the European Elections.