Italy Votes to Approve Same-Sex Civil Unions

On May 11, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved a civil unions bill which is a huge step towards marriage equality for the staunchly Catholic nation. The vote comes on the heels of months of heated debate, and the law was only passed after a provision for adoption was removed from the original bill.
“The approval of the civil union law is a milestone in the struggle toward legal recognition for same-sex-couples in Italy,” said Boris Dittrich, advocacy director in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights program at Human Rights Watch. “But restrictive adoption provisions for same-sex couples deny some children the legal protection and security they deserve.” According to the HRW, “Since 2010, a number of Italian courts have ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to partnership recognition, and major cities, including Rome and Milan, have allowed same-sex couples to symbolically register marriages conducted abroad. In July 2015, the European Court of Human Rights held that Italy violated the right to privacy and family life in failing to provide sufficient and reliable legal protection for same-sex relationships.” It should be noted that civil unions are not the same as same-sex marriage which is legal in the European Union member states of Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, excluding Northern Ireland.

“The Civil Union Act is a watered down version of a bill first introduced by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party in 2014. While opponents introduced thousands of amendments, the most controversial provision in the original bill would have given a partner in a same-sex couple the right to adopt their partner’s children. In February, the Senate approved a compromise text that removed this option, paving the way for the vote in the Chamber of Deputies. According to article 73 of the Italian Constitution, the President of the Republic needs to promulgate the law. It is expected he will do so,” the HRW writes.

While the Italian LGBT community celebrates this step forward, the adoption issue is an important one. Dittrich said “Italian politicians should ensure that the best interests of children are the primary consideration in all adoption proceedings. Lawmakers should revise Italy’s adoption legislation to allow unmarried couples in a civil union, irrespective of their gender, and individuals, to adopt children and to also allow stepchild adoption.”