“DDL Zan” blocked by the Italian Senate - what is it and what does it mean to Italy?
- Francisco Silva
- Nov 1, 2021
- 4 min read
On the 27th of October, the Italian Senate stood up and cheered as the “DDL Zan” (or disegno di legge* Zan) was blocked with 154 votes against (and only 131 in favour) in a secret vote. The bill had already been approved in the parliament – but required the Senate’s approval for further examination and application of the bill. But what is the DDL Zan, and what does this mean to the Italian people?
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What’s the DDL Zan?
The DDL Zan is a law draft presented by (and named after) Alessandro Zan, a member of the largest left-wing party in Italy (Partito Democratico), that aimed to amend the Legge Marino, a law that tackled hate crimes and discrimination that was approved in 1993. The law denounced religious, political, and racial discrimination; Zan’s goal was to extend the law to discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, and gender identity – thus protecting LGBTQ+ individuals. With this change, discrimination could be punished with a fine of 6.000€ or up to 18 months in prison, whereas direct violence towards people based on sexual orientation, gender or gender identity could be punished with up to four years in prison.
The law was first presented in May 2018, but due to political instability in Italy, it was only addressed and voted during late 2020 at the lower house of Italy’s parliament (and approved with 265 votes for and 193 against it). However, the bill still needed approval of the Senate for it to be implemented, and seemingly the push by right-wing parties and the Vatican to “sink” the bill, as it is often said in Italy, has succeeded after a secret vote on the bill was scheduled for this Wednesday.
Why did the bill not pass?
It may seem hard to understand how the protection of LGBTQ+ people would not be desirable on a developed country nowadays; but the previous election in Italy saw a surge in centre-right to right-wing and populist parties who are not keen on granting these protections to the LGBTQ+ community.
Parties such as Lega (or League), Fratelli d’Italia (“Brothers of Italy”) and (most deputies of) Forza Italia have argued against this bill, affirming the current Marino Law (Legge Marino) was enough to protect people from discrimination based on sexual and gender identity. They have also accused this draft of contributing to the restriction of freedom of speech. The Italian newspaper The Florentine notes in an article these parties considered the draft “offensive due to its introduction of the concept of ‘gender identity’, with the (alleged) aim of cancelling male-female gender differences and causing biased propaganda in schools in favour of surrogacy and sexual confusion.” These statements have been contested by the supporters of the bill – as the DDL Zan states “the free expression of beliefs or opinions, as well as legitimate conduct attributable to the pluralism of ideas or freedom of choice” should not be criminalised, according to The Local (another Italian-based newspaper).
The Vatican has also pushed against this bill, pressuring the government to alter it and claiming the bill as it stood would negatively impact the right of “total religious freedom” (although the Vatican did not push for the bill to be revoked in its entirety). The current prime-minister Mario Draghi has refused to follow with the Vatican’s unprecedented requests, reminding the Holy See that the state of Italy is “a secular state, not a religious state”.
Italian LGBTQ+ people live in fear
According to a study conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights on the LGBTQ+ community in 2020, more people believe intolerance and prejudice has risen (41%) than the other way around (37%); and only 8% of the respondents believe the government effectively combats intolerance and prejudice (for comparison, the average for all EU countries [+ the UK] sits at 33%).
And these results are most likely not shocking to the Italian population, that has seen increasing amounts of violence towards LGBTQ+ individuals; from a brutal attack on a trans woman by teenage boys that went viral on social media in Naples last February, to the eviction of a 20-year-old gay woman in Tuscany by her parents, along with death threats, after she came out to them; to another attack in a train station in Rome after two men were seen kissing in public, there seems to be a conflict between acceptance and traditional values the current government is perpetuating. And now the chance to protect thousands of innocent, systematically oppressed adults and children has been brought down by the Senate, one thing is clear; Italian LGBTQ+ people live in fear.
In fear, and anger; as the news of Wednesday’s vote in the Senate spread, many came to the streets to protest the decision across the country. Unfortunately, in the Senate, a different scenario was seen; a group of privileged people stood up and clapped to the rejection of the DDL Zan, with a smile on many people’s faces. Right-leaning and right-wing party representants have blamed the left-wing supporters of the bill for arrogance and inflexibility on this bill. Alessandro Zan, the creator of the bill, lamented the vote in the Senate: “The responsibilities are clear.”, he said. “A political agreement that would have brought the country a step closer towards civilization was betrayed.”
This is indeed a significant setback to LGBTQ+ rights in Italy which enables homophobic and transphobic behaviour; but perhaps, it could be a trigger for change in the country. Unfortunately, the best the people can do right now is to stay safe, and to be vocal on their dissatisfaction. If anything, this proves there’s still a long way to go for equality; but one can only hope for a better future.
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