Italian minister goes on hunger strike to support legalisation of gay civil unions

A junior minister in the Italian government has gone on hunger strike in a protest aimed at speeding up moves to introduce civil unions for gay couples.

Ivan Scalfarotto, 49, said in his blog he was aiming to force discussion of the issue into the mainstream and rally the support of “all those people of good faith who have been thinking up until now that it was enough just to wait”.

“Between the demonstrations of Catholic fundamentalists and the Gay Pride marches, you’d think there was nothing in between,” wrote the minister, who is gay and a long-standing rights campaigner.

“The time has come to do something more to support those working to ensureItaly finally catches up with Kentucky, or at least gets near,” he added in a reference to the recent US Supreme Court ruling, which forces even the most conservative of states to allow gay marriage.

Italy stands alone among major western Europe states in having no provisions for the official recognition of homosexual couples. Draft legislation that would authorise civil unions is currently blocked in the Senate.

The time has come to ... ensure Italy finally catches up with Kentucky, or at least gets near

Ivan Scalfarotto

Scalfarotto said he would continue not eating until there was “certainty on the date when this grave violation of human rights will end”.

Thousands of amendments have been put forward by opponents of the bill who include members of one of the governing parties, the New Centre Right (NCD).

The junior partner in prime minister Matteo Renzi’s coalition is not opposed to civil unions in principle but is demanding the removal of two provisions: one that would allow gays to adopt the children of their partners, and one on the transfer of pension rights upon the death of one of the partners.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in Rome on 20 June to voice their opposition to the proposed law for civil unions but recent opinion polls have indicated a majority of voters favour reform, with support for civil unions and gay marriage having risen significantly after Ireland voted strongly in favour of allowing same-sex couples to wed.