Protests held across Europe in solidarity with lesbian mothers in Italy

LGBTQ+ activists are organising protests in support of Italian lesbian mothers all over Europe, including one in Dublin on August 2.

Community . Written by Swantje Mohrbeck.

Protest for lesbian mothers in Italy.
Image: EL*C

On Friday, July 28, LGBTQ+ activists staged protests in several European cities against the treatment of lesbian mothers by the far-right government in Italy.

Italy has recently begun removing same-sex parents from their children’s birth certificates. In current Italian law, two mothers cannot be legally recognised as parents of a child, meaning only one same-sex parent can remain on the birth certificate.

While some jurisdictions in the country used to grant same-sex couples parental rights on a case-to-case basis and often transcribed birth certificates for children of same-sex parents that were created abroad, the current far-right government seems determined to end this practice. 

In January this year, the government sent out a letter to all prefects in the country, urging them to cease the practice of including the names of both parents. Since then, at least three children born to lesbian parents living in Italy have reportedly had their birth certificates altered to remove one of the two mothers, only leaving the “biological parent”.

 

The EuroCentralAsian Lesbian Community (EL*C) issued an open letter to the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, condemning the government’s actions and calling for protests across Europe. The letter stated that they “will not tolerate the rise of far-right ideologies in Europe”, as “anyone aligned with the far-right is a direct enemy to democracy, human rights and rule of law”. 

In a show of unity and solidarity with same-sex parents, protests took place in France, Belgium, Portugal and Spain, where lesbians and allies came together in support of lesbian Italian mothers and all groups affected by the hateful and harmful politics of Meloni’s government. More protests are scheduled to take place in Germany, France and the UK.

In Ireland, the topic has also gained attention and an Italian Lesbian Mothers Protest will be held in front of the Italian Embassy in Dublin, on Wednesday, August 2 at 5.30pm.

 

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