Italian Senate Scuttles LGBTQ+ Hate Crimes Bill

Italian lawmakers killed a proposed hate crimes bill on Oct. 27 that would have protected women, the LGBTQ+ community, and disabled people. The bill was opposed by right-wing politicians and the Catholic church, UK newspaper the Guardian reported.

"The 315-member senate voted by 154 to 131 on Wednesday to block the debate on the law," effectively killing it, the Guardian detailed. The legislation had been "previously approved by the lower house of parliament in the face of months of protests from far-right and Catholic groups," the news item added.

The bill "would have criminalized violence and hate speech targeting a person's sexual orientation or identity," Bloomberg reported.

Those convicted under the law could have faced jail terms as long as four years. The bill would also have provided funding to combat anti-LGTBQ+ bias, as well as to provide aid to victims of hate crimes.

Foes of the proposed measure fell back on standard anti-LGBTQ+ talking points, claiming that "the law would have suppressed freedom of expression and promoted 'homosexual propaganda' in schools," the Guardian detailed.

The Catholic church, deeply influential in Italy, had also come out against the bill. "Last June, the Vatican made an unprecedented intervention urging the Italian government to change the law over concerns it would infringe upon the Catholic church's 'freedom of thought,'" the article recalled.

The Vatican's intervention prompted accusations that the church was improperly "meddling" in affairs of government.

The protective measure had been introduced "after a series of high-profile attacks against gay and transgender people," the Guardian detailed, adding that although "hundreds" of hate crimes are reported each year, "many go unpunished."

The bill had received extra impetus earlier this year when video of a homophobic assault at a train station in Rome was aired.

The bill had been progressing through the legislative system for three years when it was killed, Bloomberg said, adding that any new, similar legislation would have to start from scratch.

The bill's demise was part and parcel of a longstanding pattern in Italian politics, the Guardian said.

"Attempts by various governments over the past three decades to enact a similar law have either been stifled or sabotaged, with any progress or even just meaningful debate stymied by a macho culture, Catholicism and support for far-right parties," the UK newspaper detailed.

Marriage equality is not legal in Italy, although lawmakers there did pass legislation providing same-sex couples with the right to enter into civil unions in 2016, the Guardian said.