“I suspect the government is afraid that a family that looks different, like ours, can be as happy – maybe even happier, sometimes – as a traditional family.”
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY GAJUS
In a move that shocked the world last month, Italy has officially begun the process to remove lesbian mothers from birth certificates if they did not biologically carry their child. This move is just one of the crackdowns on LGBTQIA rights under right-wing populist PM Giorgia Meloni.
In the city of Padua, 27 families have been issued a warning letter about the new policy which will affect the birth certificates of 33 children. When the children’s mothers are taken off these birth certificates, they lose the right to be the child’s legal custodian.
Michela Leidi and her wife Viola were one of the first parents to be affected by the new policy and told the Daily Mail that they cried for 10 days after receiving the news.
“It was as if I did not exist,” Michela said. “I suspect the government is afraid that a family that looks different, like ours, can be as happy – maybe even happier, sometimes – as a traditional family. On paper, they say Giulia [my child] has one mother but we know she has two. We will do everything possible to prove we are a good family.”
Families like Michela and Viola now have to tackle concerns about whether they will be able to keep their children if the mother on the birth certificate dies – something which no parent should have to worry about.
After being elected in 2022, PM Giorgia Meloni has also stated that she will also be rolling back legislation on abortions.
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