Hundreds of thousands of people were yesterday expected to protest in Rome’s Circus Maximus against a civil unions bill for same-sex couples, a hot-potato issue for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government.
“As many people as possible must take part, remember this is the only weapon we have,” organizer Massimo Gandolfini said ahead of the “Family Day” rally, which was to begin in the capital’s ancient Roman chariot racing stadium at noon.
Gandolfini said he expected to fill the arena, which accommodates 350,000 people without counting the surrounding streets, while authorities in Rome said they were preparing for up to 500,000 people.
Italy is the last major Western country not to allow same-sex couples legal status. The Italian Senate began examining the bill on Thursday, which would enable gay people to commit to one another before a state official and, in certain circumstances, adopt each other’s children and inherit residual pension rights.
In 2007, another vast “Family Day” forced the center-left government of then-Italian prime minister Romano Prodi to drop a much less ambitious civil union project — and the failure of the bill was cited as one of the reasons behind the fall of his government early the following year.
Supporters say Italy has no choice this time but to change, pointing to repeated complaints from the European Court of Human Rights.
The Italian Episcopal Conference on Friday said it was “concerned” about the “process under way of putting marriage and civil unions on the same level — with the introduction of an alternative to the family.”
While some accused the bishops of failing to follow Pope Francis’ call for the church to show greater compassion to the marginalized or excluded, others said the Catholic country would do its utmost to protect vulnerable children.
Center-left Renzi has said he is confident the bill will pass, although there are several sticking points, in particular the ability to adopt the biological children of one’s partner.
“Italy tomorrow will become a beacon for Europe. Each child needs a father and a mother, the complete deal,” Jacopo Coghe, head of the Family Generation association, told journalists at a pre-rally event on Friday.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique