In the midst of far-right prime minister Georgia Meloni's continued attack on LGBTQ+ rights in Italy, lesbian mothers in the country have achieved a small win as a court in the Veneto region rejected the government's effort to remove the names of non-biological mothers from their children's birth certificates.
In June last year, a state prosecutor in Padova linked to the ruling Brothers of Italy party urged the cancellation of 33 birth certificates that included non-biological mothers of children in lesbian couples. The documents were issued as early as 2017.
The legal consequences for those mothers could be extensive if the couples separate or if the biological mother dies or becomes unable to take care of the child.
In March last year, Meloni's Interior Ministry sent letters to local governments nationwide demanding an end to the practice of listing “parents” on birth certificates, instead of a “mother” and “father.” Hundreds protested in response.
Prosecutors for Meloni's Interior Ministry will probably challenge the ruling. In a similar case in June, a Milan court ruled that a child's birth certificate could contain the names of two mothers, but that decision was reversed in February.
The Veneto court's ruling is the latest rejection of Meloni's far-right government as she continues to push to diminish the rights of LGBTQ+ parents in the country.
“I do not believe in a state that prioritizes the legitimate desire of a homosexual to adopt a child over the right of that child to have a father and a mother,” Meloni said in a statement that claims to understand the desire of gay individuals to become parents while at the same time rejecting it.
Meloni began her political career in 1992 as a member of the neo-fascist Youth Front, established in 1946 among the remnants of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's followers. She became leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party in 2014 and was elected the country's first female prime minister in October 2022. She made anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric a central part of her campaign and government agendas.
Meloni opposes marriage equality, describing civil unions as “sufficient” for LGBTQ+ couples.
While same-sex civil unions have been legal in Italy since 2016, gay couples are not allowed to adopt — a right vehemently opposed by the Catholic Church and Meloni's government. Additionally, the adoption of “stepchildren” by one gay parent is prohibited, and medically assisted reproduction, such as IVF, is limited to heterosexual couples.
“Yes to the natural family, no to LGBT lobbies,” Meloni stated last summer.
Like Russian President Vladimir Putin, her ideological ally to the east, Meloni has identified an adversary in the so-called international LGBTQ+ rights movement, which she sees as a threat to the moral fabric and family values of her country.
“It's their game. They want us to be parent one, parent two, LGBT gender, Citizen X… codes,” claimed Meloni in 2019.
“We are not codes,” she added. “We are people and we will defend our identity.”
