Italian PM Puts Job on Line for Gay Partnerships Also Wishes a Win for Hillary

 PM Matteo Renzi at 39 is the youngest leader in this country. He is considered liberal by our standards. He has always been for gay rights and marriage but the best he is hope to maybe get would be same sex unions which the Catholic Church is fiercely fighting him on. Italy being home of the vatican, which has considerable influence on both the government and public opinion. This young leader is a gutsy leader not easily intimidated.

It may seem crazy that a major Western European nation should have such an archaic attitude towards towards marriage equality in 2016 – but Italy, with a deeply conservative, Catholic history, seems to be a little slower to adapt in comparison to its neighbors. Thankfully, this may well be about to change.

Since the country elected its youngest and arguably most progressive leader, Matteo Renzi, two years ago, he has been credited with a number of dramatic improvements. There are now more women holding prominent government positions, the economy is on the mend, unemployment is down and now, he’s looking to press forward with one of his early election pledges – to introduce civil unions for same-sex couples.

The Guardian reports that, when he addressed his centre-left Democratic Party on Sunday, he stated: “We are at a crossroads. I am ready to call a confidence vote.” If successful, this extreme measure would help break the parliamentary deadlock on the bill, which stalled in the Italian senate last week thanks to the efforts of the opposition Five Star Movement (M5S). If unsuccessful it might mean Mr Renzi has to go to the polls just as he enters his third year in office.

While addressing his party Mr Renzi, went on to explain that he regarded the legislation to give same-sex couples legal recognition and protection as important as all of his other reforms.

The bill has faced vocal, and some might say predictable, opposition from the Catholic church, despite Mr Renzi’s request for the clergy not interfere with the debate – The Italian PM reasoned that the legislation does not impact on religious marriages.

A further stumbling block for the legislation is in relation to the implementation of adoption rights for same-sex couples. At the moment there is a a grey area around whether one partner in a same-sex relationship will be able to adopt the biological child of the other partner. This has lead to concerns among LGBT activist groups that some of the adoption legislation may be removed in order to ensure the civil unions bill is passed.

Mr Renzi’s party is due to announce its strategy this week.

gaytimes.co.uk/

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Monday that, as a citizen and leader of a center-left party, he hopes that Hillary Clinton becomes the next president of the United States.

During a news conference with foreign media to mark his second year in office, Renzi was asked if he could work with Republican candidate Donald Trump should he win this year's election.

"As Italian prime minister, it's obvious that I would work well with whoever is president of the United States," Renzi said. "As an Italian citizen and leader of the Democratic Party, and in total respect for American democracy, I'm rooting for Hillary Clinton." 

Renzi also said he would be traveling to Tehran in April, his first trip to Iran, which until recently was the focus of Western sanctions.

GT