But
on Thursday, after months of delays and political jousting, the Italian
Senate will begin voting on legislation to legalize civil unions,
several years after a similar effort failed. The outcome remains
uncertain, as lawmakers confront an issue that has challenged
traditional social mores, jumbled ideological lines and is being debated
as the politics of the Catholic Church are in upheaval.
“Certainly,
the fact that it was not going to be an easy vote was something we were
aware of,” said Monica Cirinnà, the senator sponsoring the legislation.
The
legislation initially seemed headed for a fairly smooth passage. Many
Italian cities, including Rome, already offer civil union
certifications, though they are mostly symbolic.
Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi endorsed the national legislation and predicted
that it would be passed in 2015. Some opposition political leaders,
including former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, suggested they would
support it. But any such certainty has since dissolved; Mr. Berlusconi
has softened his position by saying lawmakers in his center-right party
Forza Italia should vote their conscience.
Mr.
Renzi has maintained his support yet also acknowledged that civil
unions are a delicate issue that divides his own center-left Democratic
Party and also presents a challenge for his governing coalition, since
the coalition’s minority partner is the conservative New Center Right
party, which largely opposes the bill.
“We
are the only European country without a norm on civil unions, and we
want to fill the gap,” Mr. Renzi said last week, predicting passage. “I
only hope that the debate, in the next days, will stay serious and
focused on the merits, without becoming an ideological clash.”
But
an ideological clash is probably unavoidable. Advocates and critics of
the legislation are planning competing rallies in the coming days.
Critics have attacked the bill on different grounds, with some arguing
it would violate the Italian Constitution by equating civil unions to
marriage, while others have opposed a so-called stepchild adoption
provision. This allows a gay couple to adopt a child as long as one of
the partners is the biological parent of the child.
Advocates
of the provision say it would remedy glaring legal problems facing many
gay couples, especially those who became parents through surrogacy.
Italian law now only recognizes the spouse with biological ties to a
child as a legal parent. This also means that the children have no legal
rights to property and other benefits from the other parent.
“There
are major injustices coming from this, all toward the kids,” Mr. Rubera
said. “We are dreaming to be recognized as we are — as a family.”
Critics
contend that the stepchild adoption provision is a “Trojan horse” that
could undermine Italy’s prohibition of surrogacy. Gay rights advocates
dispute this argument, noting that the majority of couples who leave
Italy to pursue surrogacy are heterosexual.
Yet
the issue seems to have weakened public support for civil unions.
Different polls show that support for same-sex civil unions has dropped
to 46 percent in January, compared with 67 percent last May. A poll
conducted in January by Ipr, an independent polling and marketing firm,
also found that only 15 percent of respondents supported stepchild
adoption for gay couples.
Dr.
Gian Luigi Gigli, a physician and a member of the Italian lower house
who is against the legislation, said many opponents do not want to
discriminate against homosexuals but found the bill too far-reaching,
especially on the stepchild adoption provision.
“There is an increasing opposition,” Dr. Gigli said.
In
the past, the Catholic Church would probably have played a major role
in opposing the legislation (as happened in France, where Catholic
groups tried in vain to prevent passage of the country’s same-sex marriage
law in 2013). But in promoting a more merciful, tolerant tone, Pope
Francis has discouraged bishops around the world from diving into
culture war issues that have alienated some faithful from the church.
This
has created a divide within the Italian Episcopal Conference as
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the conference, has encouraged
Catholics to join opponents of the legislation at a coming “Family Day”
rally. Supporters of the bill held rallies across Italy over the
weekend. Yet the conference’s secretary-general, Msgr. Nunzio Galantino —
who was appointed directly by Francis — has been more cautious in
directly aligning the church in such a contentious fight.
In
an interview, Monsignor Galantino said he recognized that the
government has the right to establish laws that prevent discrimination
against all people but that he opposes the current bill because he
believes it equates civil unions with marriage and because of the clause
allowing stepchild adoptions. He agreed that there were “different
visions” within the Catholic Church on how to engage the debate but
noted that Francis had encouraged priests to “accompany people in the
streets” and listen to all the different positions.
Massimo
Franco, a columnist for Corriere della Sera, a national newspaper,
wrote recently that Francis apparently canceled a meeting with Cardinal
Bagnasco after the Italian prelate went public with his support for the
opposition rally. In an interview, Mr. Franco said the stepchild
adoption provision is causing genuine concern among many lawmakers,
especially Catholics, which concerns the Renzi administration.
Initially,
lawmakers were going to hold a secret ballot to vote on the stepchild
adoption clause but now it is unclear if that will happen. Mr. Franco
said the stepchild provision might ultimately get stripped away, which
would make it easier to pass a law on civil unions. He said enacting
some sort of civil unions law is important to Mr. Renzi — who wants to
show the rest of Europe and his supporters that he can push through
tough reforms and legislation.
“He wants a result,” Mr. Franco said. “Any outcome is good for him at this point.”
Yet
Italy is clearly under pressure. Last July, the European Court of Human
Rights found that Italy’s failure to recognize same-sex unions
represented a violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Plaintiffs also are challenging existing laws in Italian courts.
For
Ms. Cirinnà, the sponsor of the civil unions bill, passage is a matter
of extending civil rights that have been blocked for too long.
“This is a moment to break the dam,” she said.
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