Italy has been in the news a lot lately with instances of homophobic beatings and announcements from anti-LGBT+ politicians. In the latest case to come to public attention, a young woman was informed by her psychologist that her lesbianism was merely “a passing fad”.

In a story reported by Italian press, the young woman had visited the Annunziata Hospital in Naples for a psychological interview. During their meeting, she told the attending psychologist of her sexuality, whereupon he informed her that he believed homosexuals suffered from a form of psychic imbalance. He went on to say that homosexuality was a choice and not a sexual orientation, that there was no evidence people are homosexual from birth.

He then continued by telling her that her lesbianism was a passing fad fed by the media. In his most outrageous claim, he stated the World Health Organisation only removed homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses because of political pressure as the number of gay people was getting too high to be managed.  

After their meeting, the student complained to the Order of Psychologists of Campania in order to open disciplinary proceedings against the psychologist.  

This is merely the latest in a series of homophobic events. In recent weeks, a lesbian was refused a job when the hiring manager told her “We are looking for women, not a failed man. Start figuring out your identity, then you can apply for workplaces looking for girls.” Another incident occurred where a gay couple had the word “faggots” written on their restaurant bill by their waiter, sparking a firestorm of public attention.

These incidents are no doubt helped by the attitudes of government, with the Minister for Families and Disability, Lorenzo Fontana stating that “rainbow families did not exist”, meaning families led by same-sex parents. The Minister also wants to deny legal guardianship to same-sex parents of children born by surrogacy.