European Journalists April Issue | Page 30

THE COURT OF JUSTICE ORDERS THE MUNICIPALITY TO REGISTER A GAY MARRIAGE First   case   in   Italy.   Stephen   and   Joseph’s   s   marriage  has  just  been  legally  recognized.   Now   they   have   the   same   rights   and   duties   of  any  married  couple.   These   two   homosexual,   who   are   68   and   57   years   old,   had   got   married   in   New   York   in   December   2012,   but   up   to   now   the   Italian   law   had   prevented   them   to   legalize   their  union.     The  Court  of  Grosseto,  in  Tuscany  ordered  the  city  council    to  accept    their   requests  of  the  registration  of  their  marriage  into  the  list  of  the  Town  Hall.   Their  lawyer  has  publically  shown  his  satisfaction  and  his  pride  of  having  won  a   difficult  battle  against  prejudices  from  a  large  part  of  society.   “It   is   a   conquest   for   homosexuals”   he   said   in   an   interview,   and   reporting       Grosseto   judge’swords   he   addeed   that   “in   the   Italian   Law   there   is   no   explicit   prohibition   for   the   marriage   of   couples   with   the   same   sex,   so   it   mustn’t   be   considered  a  union  against  legislature”.   This  is    an  unprecedented  case  in  Italy  where  the  main  opposition  comes  from  the   Roman   Catholic   Church   which   is   influential   in   blocking   the   legislation   supported   by  the  left  wing  of  the  Political  parties,  and  makes  homosexuals  to  go  abroad  in   order  to  get  married.     Italy  is  one  of  the  fewest  countries  in  Europe  that  doesn’t  recognize  same  sex  civil   unions  or  marriages.     May  it  the  first  step  for  a  reformation?  The  question  is  still  open.       Mariafrancesca  Polimeno