Original subtitles

ON JUNE 6TH 2013 IN THE CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES

THE LAW DRAFT "DISPOSITIONS TO CONTRAST HOMOPHOBIA AND TRANSPHOBIA",

THE SO-CALLED "SCALFAROTTO LAW", STARTED THE PROCEDURE TO BE ENACTED.

THE LAW DRAFT IS NOW UNDER EXAMINATION AT THE SENATE.

ON APRIL 29TH 2013 THE NATIONAL OFFICE ANTI-RACIAL DISCRIMINATION APPROVES THE DOCUMENT

"STRATEGIES TO PREVENT AND CONTRAST DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION AND GENDER IDENTITY."

THE LEAFLETS "EDUCATING FOR DIVERSITY" ARE PART OF THIS STRATEGY.

My name is Luca Zanchi and...

I say my name and surname since I am proud and lucky to be able to do so.

Unfortunately what happened to me

is something normal and frequent, but also tragic: an aggression.

It was January 12th, a Saturday night, at 2 am, at the Coliseum,

close to the place in Rome we call the gay street.

I was together with an Italian friend who lives in Barcelona,

where I had been living for the last three years.

We were talking, noticing how strange it was that on a Saturday night,

in the capital, near the Coliseum, there was no one around:

few ca rs, few people,

bars and clubs were closing very early in comparison with Spain.

In that very moment we see a group of guys, who from afar start pointing at us.

Probably they saw us coming from the gay street.

They say to us, "There's two faggots."

There were cars speeding on the road.

On the curb there was this group of, at least, 10 guys.

We went forward, the guys kept insulting us

and, then, one of them, with a bottle in his hand, threatened to hit us.

Once we went by and weren't facing them anymore, they threw it at us.

The last things they shouted, the ones I best remember were:

"Go away from Italy, you will die from AIDS anyway". And then, "Long live Mussolini".

My name is Guido Allegrezza

and lam going to tell you something that happened to me a few years ago.

It was night and I was going back home.

I stopped in a place where gay people usually hang out.

I was in the Parco del Turismo in Eur, which goes by the name of Palombini.

While I was entering, I saw some guys doing strange things by the trees.

These four guys were following me.

From the fact that they were four and that I fell on the ground stemmed the rest.

They started kicking me.

The absurd thing

is that the only sentences we exchanged were me saying "Go and get stuffed"

and them, "Bastard".

I was more or less close to via dei Cavallari...

I don't exactly recall...

It's opposite to the "Cipro" underground station.

At some point, I realized someone was near me.

A person stopped in front of me asking for a cigarette.

I answered... I didn't have any and he asked me what was I doing there.

Without hesitation, I answered I was waiting for my boyfriend.

The guy started to insult me, calling me "a faggot"

and when I moved, he punched me in the face, more precisely in the eye.

I, then... cowered in a corner.

One of his friends asked him, "Why d'you beat him?",

and another said, "You we're right to do so, you were right, all these faggots".

Ten days after the aggression

I was approached by the concierge from the building opposite to mine.

He looked at me and said, "Well, you deserved a better beating."

"Because you suck".

I thought he was referring to the fact I am gay.

That's why I spontaneously said, "Do you want to beat me, too?"

I DON'T KNOW WHY I HATE YOU

I DON'T KNOW WHY I HATE YOU ATTEMPTED INVESTIGATION ON HOMOPHOBIA AND ITS REASONS

Today homophobia as a phenomenon doesn't exist.

The risk we are running in this ideological battle

is the opposite, the so-called "heterophobia".

It is more and more difficult

to make statements, which, so far, were considered obvious and natural.

For instance, that family can only be made by a man and a woman.

This risks to create the opposite phenomenon and this is alarming.

JULY 28TH 2013 "LAWYERS FOR LIFE" OFFICIALLY ASK THE ITALIAN PARLIAMENT TO REJECT THE LAW DRAFT ON HOMOPHOBIA.

DECEMBER 18TH 2013 "LAWYERS FOR LIFE" WARN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AGAINST ENACTING THE STRATEGY AGAINST GENDER DISCRIMINATION APPROVED BY U.N.A.R.

SHOULD PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IMPLEMENT THE STRATEGY, "LAWYERS FOR LIFE" WILL UNDERTAKE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS.

"Lawyers for life" was founded about a year ago.

Our aim is to intervene from a practical, operational point of view,

this means in court.

My name is Giordano Terribili, I come from Labico, a small village in the province of Rome.

I think I have been treated wrongly by other people,

as far as my sexual orientation is concerned.

I have been insulted and beaten many times.

In my opinion, for a the wrong reason: just because I am gay.

In school, when I went to the toilet,

since the door didn't reach the ceiling, there was a space left in-between,

and some idiots threw water balloons.

I'm not going to tell you what body fluid was inside since it is quite disgusting.

Once I was in the village square with all my friends.

One of them started to say to me,

"Faggot, idiot, go away. We don't want you here."

At that point, I had a reaction.

When I said, "Piece of shit, you go", he came near me and kicked me in the head.

Soon after, I felt sick and started to throw up.

pluckily I managed to call my mother

and ended up in ICU for a week with a concussion.

In a year, I went to the Emergency Room at least 22 times,

as the medical reports I keep filed at home can prove.

Some boys, despite the teachers' rebukes, kept picking on me.

When my mother found out, she called the police.

Because a boy can take in all that, but to a certain point.

As for martial arts, I never liked them. I have always been against violence.

It was my mother, who, after driving me to the E.R. a hundred times,

became tired and said, "Now you go and learn karate."

"This way, you'll be able to defend yourself and beat them up before they do".

The insults they most often used with me were, "Faggot, idiot..."

"Dick-head, cock-licker, filthy, whore, piece of shit..."

A "cock-licker" is someone who licks clean... a cock with the tongue.

ITALY, IN THE 19905 A MOTHER KICKS OUT HER SON BECAUSE HE IS GAY

THE SON GOES TO HIS GRANDMOTHER'S

THE MOTHER ASKS HER SPIRITUAL ADVISER WHAT TO DO

THESE PHONE CALLS WERE RECORDED BY THE MOTHER TO RE-LISTEN TO THEM AND SUMMON UP HER COURAGE. Hi. How are you? Switch the TV off, Mother.

Listen, Deso, I wanted to tell you something.

Me and my sister told mother what Fabio is.

She had doubts before, but now she knows he is a homosexual.

She doesn'! accept him and wants to kick him out.

She must change the lock and not open the door.

Weak people do more harm then good.

In your son's case, had he been abandoned by everyone,

he might have understood the harm he was doing.

Isolating the sinner doesn'! mean you're condemning him,

it's helping him to see clearly the harm he is doing.

It's for his own good.

You must keep loving your son, but in truth and rightness.

Had you always done it, by now your son would be safe.

Now he has become the son of the devil.

He calls "evil " good.

He no longer obeys the laws of nature.

I know some homosexuals here in Turin the t, if the y could', would kill everyone.

Do you realize how many I know? One is an architect.

The most unimaginable things.

Since they go against nature and God, anything is admissible.

When there is no longer a moral direction, a moral rule inside,

man becomes worse than the devil, worse than beasts.

In your book, you quote the words

of Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francesco,

on gay marriages, which is defined:

"The complete rejection of God's rule, which is also engraved in our hearts."

"An attempt to destroy God's plan,

a move by the father of deception,

against whom God's war must be invoked."

Why shouldn't a gay person feel offended,

if not discriminated, by these words?

We must take something into account.

The words by Cardinal Bergoglio

were spoken in the attempt, which resulted successful,

of introducing gay marriage in Argentina.

These words are respectful of homosexuals as persons,

but he criticises homosexuality in general.

Homosexuality is intrinsically unorderly from a moral standpoint,

and against natural right.

Adultery too, is something unorderly.

Nevertheless everyone does what they think is best.

But we cannot say that adulterers feel discriminated or offended.

Homosexuality isn't the only sin. There are many sins: an assassin.

Homicide isn't just something morally unorderly.

But you mustn't feel discriminated for this. Do what you deem is right.

Objectively homosexuality is considered something negative. Why?

Let's say that the advent of Christianity

changed the world of sexuality,

in a perspective in which marriage,

as the plan of God, was aimed at procreation.

"Manif pour Tous" is founded in France in 2012

when Francois Hollande's socialist government

presents a law draft

in order to extend marriage also to gay couples, as well as well as to heterosexual ones.

That part of society which is against this initiative

united in a sort of grass-root organization,

called "Manif pour Tous", which means Demonstration for Everyone.

Our opinions are considered as against homosexuality as a human phenomenon.

As against homosexuality as a human phenomenon.

But in most cases, in fact, almost always, when we are given the chance

to explain our thought and promote our opinions,

people understand we aren't against homosexuality.

Often we say that article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

maintains that family is the fundamental core of the State

and, as such, must be protected and recognized.

Why does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights consider family as the core of the State?

Because it's the place where there is the possibility of future.

Family is the first natural environment

where we, human beings, learn there is a hierarchy:

grandparents, parents, children.

We learn what sharing is.

It's a kind of internship we do... It's a micro-society.

We learn there are men and women.

We need it to find a place in real society.

In different times and cultures, homosexuality

was persecuted with violence and social non-acceptation.

Why can this still happen?

First of all, we must make clear what the behaviour is.

Because embarrassment is understandable, legitimate,

normal, given certain situations.

2014: INTERVIEW WITH A MAN FOUND GUILTY OF THE DEATH OF A GAY PERSON.

I was born on December 27th 1975,

I come from former Yugoslavia.

In my life I committed a crime, I killed a man.

One night, I found myself on Rimini's promenade a bit drunk.

A person stopped by my side,

I got in his car and went home with him.

I made myself comfortable, he offered me something to drink,

and then started to touch me where I didn't want to be touched.

A voice told me to leave that house immediately.

Ignoring the voice, I remained there nailed to that chair.

He started to touch me while offering me something to drink.

He took a shower and the dressed up as a women in the other room.

And the dressed up as a women in the other room.

He called me

and, since I was a bit drunk, I did things I wasn't supposed to do together with him.

I left the bedroom went into the living-room, stayed there.

Inside I was feeling terribly angry, as I never felt before.

I have never been that angry.

That's what drove me to kill him.

This is why I killed.

I felt ashamed of myself before all other human beings.

I thought it was something out of the ordinary, something very scary,

but in gypsy families we don't have these people.

We don't have gay or trans-sexual people.

If there are people with that sort of problems,

they go to hospital or to rehab.

Men never go with other men,

men always go with women, that's how we are told.

There are so many people who do not feel at ease

with the gender they belong to, having another orientation.

I think it is not right

to say that these people do not want to admit they are homosexual.

As those who find out they're gay,

have the right to explore their orientation, and find fulfilment in it,

one has the right to think that that type of orientation

was caused by something in their personal or relational life

and to find another type of solution.

HOMOSEXUALITY: AN ILLNESS THAT CAN BE CURED!

STOP HETEROPHOBIA

CARDINAL AGUILAR: "HOMOSEXUALITY? IT CAN BE TREATED AS WITH HYPERTENSION."

YOU CAN BE HEALED FROM HOMOSEXUALITY

My name is Davide Ercolani and lam an investigating magistrate.

In particular, I was the public prosecutor

in the trial against Marco ***

who was sentenced with 30 years of prison.

I sought life sentence, the judge decided for 30 years

due to the seriousness of the crime and the personality of the offender.

Why was such a long sentence sought and given?

There are many reasons.

First of all, because of the way the crime was committed.

A taxi-driver is shot in the head with a shotgun.

Another bullet was shot, although the first was lethal,

as if the killer wanted to punish the victim.

He was a so called unlicensed taxi driver.

He was trying to earn extra money by driving kids from clubs to home.

Marco *** meets the driver outside a disco-club.

He stated he had drunk a lot that night.

He flagged down a taxi. A first taxi-driver refuses to drive him home.

*** comes by, says, "Get in. Where do you want to go?"

Marco gives him his home address.

This is what Marco told us during the questioning

since he's the only one left.

Marco says he doesn't have the money for the fare

and the taxi-driver answers,

"Don't worry, we'll try and work out something else."

And starts driving towards Marco's home.

At some point he said to me...

"If you don't have the money,

we can find another way."

I replied, "Not me."

"I'm not that kind of person. Let's leave it here. Let me go."

He kept insisting by saying, "Come and sit in the front".

I remember well that in the front he was touching himself.

I started building up anger. I recall bending...

Getting the weapon... and shooting.

No, I'm not gay.

There is some contradiction.

On the one hand, all the information the family,

friends, colleagues of the taxi-driver

describe him as not being gay.

He seems not to have ever had same sex relationships.

We cannot rule out

that he may have also said things that were misunderstood.

We'll never know that.

My name is Maria Cristina D 'A vino, I am a psychologist and psychotherapist.

My field of expertise is sexology and I am and adviser to the Court of Rome.

I think we have dealt with a false problem for too long: homosexuality.

And have forgotten the real problem: homophobia.

I would like to tell you the story of one of my patients. We will call him "Marco".

Marco is 33, holds a degree

and lives in a small house near his parents,

in a working class neighbourhood in the outskirts of Rome.

Marco has always known he is gay

and has always coped very we" with I t.

His neighbours always respected him as they were with his family.

When he went to live on his own, things totally changed.

A neighbour who had always said hello stopped doing so.

Another started spitting towards him, when he saw him.

The children from the neighbourhood stood in a line to mimic his gait.

Every morning opposite to his house he found bags containing... faeces.

His mother stopped going out for the shame.

His father was having fights with the entire neighbourhood.

Marco came to my office with anxiety and depression.

Even something we fee! belongs to us,

.when it doesn'! belong to the outside world, becomes hostile to us as we...

He didn't accept himself anymore.

Why did everything change so suddenly?

As long as he lived with his family,

his was a normal family and the neighbours were fine with that.

Now they had a problem

because they had to relate to an individual who was different.

My name is Martina, I have been a girl-scout for 16 years

and lam a member of a LGBT university association, "Luiss Rainbow".

I am heterosexual.

I work with this association

because I'm convinced that this is a battle for civilization concerning us all.

In my activity as an educator

I thought I'd lecture my students

on Andrea, a Roman 15 year old who killed himself two years ago.

I also told them about homophobic bullying.

The nuns, who are our spiritual advisers,

did not agree and said that,

whenever we discovered one of our kids was gay,

we should take him back to the straight path.

The nuns went to the bishop

and asked him to take action against me

since I was a leader in my scout organisation and I was promoting homosexuality among the kids.

They asked me to quit the LGBT association

and if I didn't

they wouldn't have hosted any longer our scout meetings in their premises.

Why do you think there is so much hatred, embarrassment, irritation?

Have you ever asked yourself the reason of all this?

Yes, but it is... a very radical question.

And I can't find an answer,

perhaps I haven't even worked too hard to find one.

Certainly many elements come into play.

Partly we share...

I would like to say, the fate of women.

In male homosexuality, if one of the two has a sexually receptive role,

it's a bit like questioning the hierarchical supremacy of the male.

It is a sort of sacrilege

that must be punished.

We think that gay marriage isn't a priority.

Since there are other priorities

such as the marriage between human beings and cats.

And discrimination to cats is one of the greatest problem we are currently facing.

Forza Nuova doesn't preach on individuals

or homosexuality.

We do in-depth research

at an anthropological, social, cultural level

and the result is that homosexuality is just the fruit of the decadence of the West.

A society which tries to destructure the figure of the father

by privileging matriarchy

is a society destined to fail.

I once saw a sign by Forza Nuova saying,

"Thinking that homosexuality is against nature one day will be a crime."

What does "against nature" mean?

It means going against a principle.

For a society to develop with its own balance

it is important to have rules.

Is it really necessary to think that homosexuality is against nature?

Can't we think that homosexuality is part of nature too?

It is necessary to the extent... It is fundamental to establish a principle.

It was February 2012. I remember it was snowing.

I was at home with the flu.

At some point my mobile phone flashed

and I received a friendship request.

It was a strange request:

there was my name and surname with a homophobic insult in the middle.

DARIO "FAGGOT" ACCOLLA ADDED YOU TO HIS FRIENDS I teach Italian in a school.

And I am also a member of the LGBT movement, I am a blogger and a writer.

Anyone can type my name into Google.

Probably one of my students did that

and the news spread out in my school.

I'm almost 41, When I was 11 I went to middle school

and was a victim of school bullying.

Sicily as I knew 30 years ago

wasn't the best of places for people who weren't ordinary.

In school, I experienced three kinds of problems.

First of all, my school-mates

because to them I existed to the extent they could abuse me.

Then came my relationship with the grown-ups

because I was ashamed of my condition.

I couldn't speak about it with my parents or teachers.

Many times my teachers saw my schoolmates abusing me,

but no one ever raised a finger to say, "You shouldn't do that."

I understand very well that old generations weren't prepared for the problem of homophobia.

From my teachers I would have expected more

in terms of personal respect, aside from any other consideration.

And this is something I can't forgive my then teachers for.

In a world where you're not accounted for and which is hostile to you,

from when you wake up to when go to sleep,

it's normal for you to think you are a mistake.

I looked at the balcony many times,

I looked at it when I was 12, 14... I looked at it when I was 16

and I never jumped

because... a part of me always thought I deserved better.

I never believed in that hatred. But I am I, and I am strong.

NOVEMBER 20, 2012 ANDREA, AGED 15, HANGS HIMSELF FROM THE STAIRCASE IN HIS HOUSE.

Many times I climbed those stairs

and tried to re-enact... Andrea's suicide.

- We didn't know they were bullying him at school.- We don't know how long...

We learnt it from Facebook...

I think from the beginning, if the page was created...

We only know what was on Facebook.

I remember the uneasy feeling... caused by the phone call by the class rep...

I had just left my son at the morgue,

and maybe that was...

one of the most difficult moments in my life.

She told me about the Facebook page,

stressing the fact that it was Andrea who had wanted it.

And also the teachers' attitude...

It was as if they came to...

Especially one... As if she came with her hands raised.

To excuse herself.

"It was Andrea who wanted that profile as an expression of his camp soul".

"It was Andrea who wanted it, Madam".

THE BOY WITH PINK TROUSERS.

I'D RATHER SAY WOMAN THAN MAN!

- And the desk? - An investigation was made about it...

The result of the investigation was the seizure of the desk,

where someone had carved in the sentence: "Andrea is a poof".

We were annoyed by the fact

that the school knew about the investigation

10 days before it actually occurred

In the classroom there were jars of paint. Fresh paint...

And that was something by which also the investigators were struck.

The writing on the walls had been cancelled.

You could still smell the paint.

He was on the underground with some friends.

He had only two stops to go

but at the first one he got off

because they were teasing him badly.

There's something I wanted you to read me.

You say it in your book.

"On this point I quote something written on the website Pontifex, Rome."

"The family of origin of the victim is made by divorced parents."

"This according to the teachings of the Church speaks volumes

on the disasters made by the crisis of the family."

"The same distressed mother admits on TV she might have made some mistakes

although it's strange for hear her say that he wore nail polish not to bite his nails."

"Probably the child had gay tendencies

and it would have been useful to have him cured."

"Had that mother understood the alleged orientation of her son

who was harbouring the malaise of homosexuality,

she would have taken action in time with the help of the doctors."

"But no, she chose relativism: all is beautiful and good."

"Each one is free to behave as they believe."

“Someone also jumps to the conclusion that an investigation should be opened

to find the culprits of some offensive writings

as if magistrates had nothing better to do."

"The word 'faggot', pardon my vulgarity, has entered common jargon

and if we were to try all swearing words,

courts would burst."

And this says it all.

You write about when you saw him at the morgue

He was very handsome. He was very handsome.

He was very handsome also when I found him.

When I saw him there, in the tragedy, he was an angel.

It was as if he had finally reached peace.

As if he finally had freed himself... from a weight.

ONE YEAR AND FOUR MONTH AFTER ANDREA'S DEATH...

THE BOY WITH PINK TROUSERS' SUICIDE: "IT WASN'T BECAUSE OF HOMOPHOBIA." DISMISSAL REQUESTED.

IN THE MEANTIME THE FAGGOTS AND THE GAY PRESS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF IT.

THIS SHOWS THAT THE BULLYING WAS JUST A HOAX.

OCTOBER 27TH 2013 SIMONE, AGED 21, JUMPS FROM THE 11TH FLOOR.

HIS LAST SENTENCE: "HOMOPHOBIC PEOPLE MUST TAKE THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES".

AUGUST 7TH 2013 ROBERTO, AGED 14, TAKES HIS LIFE BY JUMPING FROM THE 4TH FLOOR.

HIS LAST SENTENCE: "I'M KILLING MYSELF BECAUSE I AM GAY".

IN 2007 IN MILAN THE ASSOCIATION AGAPO IS FOUNDED IN MILAN. ITS AIM IS TO PROMOTE THE INCLUSION OF HOMOSEXUALS IN "NORMAL SOCIAL LIFE", WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE ENCOUNTER BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN.

THE ASSOCIATION AGAPO HAS RECEIVED PUBLIC FUNDING.

ON THE WEBSITE OF THE AGAPO A PRAYER IS PUBLISHED FOR THE PARENTS OF HOMOSEXUAL CHILDREN.

IN THIS PRAYER THE PARENTS ASK GOD TO HELP THEIR CHILD: "SO WOUNDED IN HIS MANLY NATURE".

"HELP HIM RECOGNIZE YOUR PLAN, FOR YOU CREATED MALE AND FEMALE..."

"HEALING CAN STEM ONLY FROM LOVE."

When people like us are born... People are born with diseases.

We must understand our neighbours, not threaten them and hurt them.

But as friends and brothers, we must try to cure them, because they too are human beings.

2014: INTERVIEW WITH A MAN FOUND GUILTY OF THE DEATH OF A GAY PERSON.

THE "STANDING SENTINELS" ARE ON A VIGIL AGAINST THE "SCALFAROTTO LAW".

"Standing Sentinels" are not demonstrating against people.

You and us are not fighting.

Not for the Sentinels,

who refuse to classify people according to their sexual orientation.

I give the floor to the national head of "Standing Sentinels",

who has some important news to break.

Good evening to everyone.

I have some quick good news to give you, once in a while...

The Director of the Education Department of the Ministry of University and Education

yesterday blocked the circulation of the leaflets

of the leaflets "Educating for Diversity".

In those leaflets, they rule out the heteronormative perspective,

which considers the heterosexual intercourse...

as the normal one... and this in all fields.

"Normal" is a word taken from statistics

and it refers to the events that occur more frequently.

We call non-normal...

an event occurring less frequently.

To this day, the State doesn't recognize all types of unions

If I wanted to marry my dog, I couldn't.

If gay marriage is recognized,

then all the other options have moral recognition...

to become lawful.

Well... I would like to go to root

If you asked me what's the cause...

It's a problem related to the ideology...

that sex is connected with reproduction.

This is essential for the accumulation of wealth,

therefore for the bequeath of wealth to heirs.

Moreover anything that doesn't fit in this scheme,

that is reproduction with the goal of transferring propriety,

must be fought because it is not functional to the perpetuation of this scheme.

In some ancient societies reproduction

had a political and social control function.

If we think of the narrow strip of land where Israel is now,

which was squashed between extremely strong empires,

procreation was fundamental to give that people soldiers.

If sexuality was not fertile it was dangerous,

both because it destroyed the heterosexual order,

and because it could have repercussions on the so-called social rule.

Therefore these cultural aspects

got mixed up with religion.

For instance, the famous "Sodom and Gomorrah" page,

which became the moral justification to the persecution of gay people.

BRUNEI: FROM APRIL PEOPLE STONED AND CONDEMNED TO DEATH.

IN A COMA FOR SIX MONTH, DIES AFTER HOMOPHOBIC AGGRESSION.

LUCA, 14, ADOPTED AND ABANDONED BECAUSE GAY.

SHOCK SENTENCE BY TEACHER: "THAT PUPIL IS GAY AND NEEDS CURES."

This is me when I was born.

First of all, I was born to a woman. I was given a nice pink ribbon

and as an adult I am expected to be

sweet, pleasant, caring, accommodating,

that I raise children, make cakes...

My name is Antonella Montano and lam the head of the Beck Institute.

The Beck Institute deals with cognitive behavioural therapy.

The name comes from the father of cognitive behavioural therapy, Beck,

who allowed me to call the institute with his name.

I am the co-author, together with two of my employees,

of the leaflets "Educating for Diversity in School".

I always thought that if school has to be a safe place for everyone,

it must be so also for gay and lesbian people.

Then society says to us, "Disease, against nature..."

And this is how we start to learn...

The goal of our leaflets

is to tell teachers what homophobia is

and how to deal with homophobic bullying in schools.

What happened to us during childhood and puberty influences what we think today.

On homosexuality a thousand hypothesis have been made,

but we still don't know why someone is gay,

as we don't know why someone is straight.

Anyway, absent mothers, very little present fathers

and all these psychological reasons,

which according to some people contribute to sexual orientation,

have no scientific foundation.

We tend to consider normal events

that are numerically most frequent.

Sexual orientation is different among human beings,

but diversity is normal.

In Amazonia, there are very small butterflies,

that are numerically few,

but are nevertheless very important for the ecosystem.

After we are born we are raised as heterosexual persons.

They tell us fairy-tales where the prince falls in love with the princess.

Or where the prince must wake up a princess.

They don't tell us fairy-tales where the princess falls from another princess

or the lady-in-waiting, or the chamber maid.

In every classroom, in every room,

there's the theme of the puppet theatre.

This is to wish everyone who comes by

to be themselves, for them not to need to act

and feel at ease with what they are.

That's why we dedicated a puppet theatre to homophobia,

and inside I wrote a fairy-tale.

"Once upon a time in a far-away country there was a king

who loved very much the prince from the nearby kingdom."

"The prince and the king wanted to get married, but everyone was against it."

"The parents said it was wrong, the police wanted to arrest them,

the priest scared them saying that they would have gone to hell."

"The king and the prince challenged their fears,

conditioning and homophobia."

"And thanks to this they lived happily ever after."

My name is Fabio and I am part of the project "Buzzintercultura.org - Cinegay.it".

The aim of our group is to bring to Italy the audio-visual material

we don't normally see here.

The films we don't see in Italy

are those in which gay couples live happily ever after,

films where you see adoptions, films with same sex parents

and the films where these people are happy with their life.

In foreign countries, they have many ads against homophobia.

Even in countries we would consider backward.

There are the UN messages against homophobia that in Italy we don't get.

There are also many posters.

For instance, in Madrid's underground... there is a picture with written on it:

"From man to man the most effective weapon against HIV fits in a pocket".

It's clearly speaking of condoms, which are also shown.

Imagine if in the Rome underground there were these posters

showing condoms and the rainbow flag.

Let's go on... This was surely the most interesting.

It's a advertising campaign paid by the Madrid Council on buses,

"The axis of evil is heterosexual, open your arse and your mind will open".

We are educating generations to say,

"You are not men or women, but you have to decide what to be"

I don't know if you realize.

The idea is: "You have to decide what to be". This is dangerous, it's madness.

It's madness.

We got to the point I can decide what I am.

There's no certainty.

I'm thinking about femicide...

Who knows if a woman feels a woman or what?

My name is Maria Laura Annibali

I am the guarantor at the Council for Equal Opportunities of the Lazio Region.

Ideal with policies in favour of women.

For many years I was heterosexual,

or at least I thought so.

Then something very strange happened.

In a bewitched night in April many years ago,

having re-met a former schoolmate

something that was bound to happen took place.

Maybe it was the right night, maybe it was the right person...

From that night our story lasted for 23 years,

which were for me very good years under certain aspects.

But in those years I became a terrible liar.

Because in the 70s to survive in the place where I worked,

I had to say that I was the lover of a politician, who had children.

Therefore I couldn't introduce him to anyone

because ours was a clandestine affair.

For my secretary who always answered the phone

I had to make up a classy fib

"He is so lazy he makes his secretary call me".

This caused me a great grief

and when I was about to be 50,

I sought the help of a psychotherapist.

In fact, being the lover of a politician

HUGS...

was a plus... for Maria Laura Annibali.

We are speaking of people who only talked about their children,

their husband, of the trip they had with their friends and their children,

who invited to their Holy Communion, Confirmation and so on.

It is better to be the friend of the lover of a politician,

who may reach a higher position

than not to be.

I left all those people in their limbo.

I would have rather be appreciated

and loved for what I was.

Well, that's it...

I DON'T KNOW WHY I HATE YOU

I DON'T KNOW WHY I HATE YOU ATTEMPTED INVESTIGATION ON HOMOPHOBIA AND ITS REASONS.

BY FILIPPO SOLDI