France has legalized same-sex marriage, the UK will do the same this summer, and Germany is awaiting a vote on the matter from the Bundestag. That leaves Italy as one of the few Western European countries where the matter is not at least under consideration. In fact, it's one of the few countries in the area that still doesn't even recognize same-sex civil unions.
Some Italian cities--including Milan, but not including Rome--have legalized such unions. But, as a recent Times article noted, the rights of gay couples end at their cities' limits.
Some people blame the Vatican for the situation I've described. However, as Same Love founder Alessandro Bentivegna noted, "Ireland is just as Catholic, yet they're 100 years ahead of here."
If anything, the Irish have been more Catholic than the Italians for at least a couple of centuries. As in Giulia in Alberto Moravia's The Conformist observes, "Ninety percent of the people who go to church today don't believe. The priests don't, either." Although the situation is changing, for many Italians, the Church is something like the Royal Family is to many British: They can't tell you, exactly, what it's for or about, but they cannot imagine life without it.
On the other hand, Ireland had, arguably, the most fervent believers in Europe. That, I believe, is a result of the British attempt to destroy their religion. For a long time, Irish would-be priests were trained in France by disciples of theologian Cornelius Jansen, who emphasized human sin, depravity, predestination and the need for divine grace. One result is that they preached through fiery sermons that could make even Jonathan Edwards blush.
One thing about fundamentalism--whether of the Christian, Islamic or Jewish variety--is that when people break away from it, their actions are more decisive and climatic than of those who simply drift away from more moderate churches. So, while Italian Catholics--even those in the countryside--aren't much more religious than their peers in France or other countries, they are also less likely to bread away from Catholicism altogether. That is why people attend church even when, as Giulia said, they don't believe in it.
This attitude about church extends to other areas of Italian life: People--especially politicians--cling to beliefs, rituals and traditions even after they have lost meaning. That, I believe, accounts for the lack of urgency among Italians concerning a number of social issues that are debated vigorously--and, sometimes, acted upon--in other countries.
A typical Italian attitude goes something like this: Yes, gay couples should have the right to marry and have al of the other rights heterosexual couples have. But they can go to Belgium or someplace else to get married. So why is it so important to legalize it here? Why is it such a big deal? If you can find a way to live your life the way you want to, why should you change anything? As an Italian professor once told me, "If the Bastille had been in Rome, it would still be standing."
Also, politics are very different in Italy. Here in the US, the far left and the far right are the most vocal in their views, and the latter is better able to transmit them because it is backed by some very wealthy individuals and corporations. On the other hand, the center-left and center-right not only dominate Italian politics; they are also the most vocal proponents of their points of view. And, those views, as often as not, are about preserving the status quo rather than making dramatic changes--as has happened in Ireland and Argentina--or in "returning" to some idealized version of what the "Founding Fathers" stood for, as we see in the US.
In other words, Italians don't have the sense that they have to "save" their country, as the American right has, or that there has to be a social revolution, as is occuring in Ireland, Spain and some Latin American countries. That may be the main reason why Italy may not legalize same-sex unions--let alone marriage--for a while.
Showing posts with label civil unions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civil unions. Show all posts
14 February 2013
Le Beau Marriage: C'est Probable En France
On Valentine's Day, it's nice to have the kind of news I'm going to relay.
The other day, the Assembly, which is the lower house of France's Parliament, approved a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The vote was 329 to 229. In order to become law, the bill has to be approved by the Senate which, like the Assembly, is controlled by the same Socialist party of which President Francois Hollande is a member.
The good news is that in poll after poll, the French overwhelmingly favor same-sex marriage, but their support weakens when it comes to allowing gay couples to adopt children. Having a pretty fair amount of time in France, I can tell you that, as in most countries, the provincial, rural areas are more conservative and religious than the cities or towns, so there is certainly opposition in those regions. Also, in les banlieues around cities like Paris, Lyon and Marseille, there are sizeable communities of fundamentalist Muslims and ultra-Orthodox Jews who certainly don't favor same-sex marriage or gay adoption.
However, it's hard not to feel that the bill will pass, and not only because of the political affiliations of parliamentarians. Although the issue was rarely discussed until recently, French people have long known that some of their most prominent citizens--particularly in the arts and in intellectual endeavors--are gay or gender-variant. Also, while there are still many conservatively religious French people, the Church does not have the same grip on politics or public life that it once had. I think a line from one of Alberto Moravia's characters in The Conformist more or less applies to France: "Ninety percent of the people who go to church today don't believe." That may have been an exaggeration, but it does reflect one salient fact: In France, you simply don't find the kind of religious zealotry (at least among Catholics or other Christians) that you can easily find here in the US.
Plus, while the French like to think themselves as independent of world opinion (and, in fact, they sometimes are), I would think that with gay marriage legal in two of their neighboring countries ( Spain and Belgium) and in nearby Netherlands, and with same-sex unions recognized by two of their other neighbors (UK and Germany), they realize that the time has come for them to move forward. Or, at least, they don't want to see as more retrograde than any of their neighbors.
Plus--call me naive for saying this--I can't help but to think that if any of the European countries want to keep the EU together, they will have to work together on issues like same-sex marriage. As an example, if a Belgian EU officer is married to her girlfriend and is posted, say, to Latvia , where the law says that marriage is between a man and a woman, there could be complications, to say the least.
But I think that if France legalizes gay marriage--as I believe it will--most of the remaining European countries will. If Spain--which was one of the most conservative and Catholic countries not much more than a generation ago-- can legalize it, and equally-conservative and -Catholic Ireland can recognize same-sex partnerships, what's to stop France or any other European country (save, perhaps, Poland) from doing the same?
The other day, the Assembly, which is the lower house of France's Parliament, approved a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The vote was 329 to 229. In order to become law, the bill has to be approved by the Senate which, like the Assembly, is controlled by the same Socialist party of which President Francois Hollande is a member.
The good news is that in poll after poll, the French overwhelmingly favor same-sex marriage, but their support weakens when it comes to allowing gay couples to adopt children. Having a pretty fair amount of time in France, I can tell you that, as in most countries, the provincial, rural areas are more conservative and religious than the cities or towns, so there is certainly opposition in those regions. Also, in les banlieues around cities like Paris, Lyon and Marseille, there are sizeable communities of fundamentalist Muslims and ultra-Orthodox Jews who certainly don't favor same-sex marriage or gay adoption.
However, it's hard not to feel that the bill will pass, and not only because of the political affiliations of parliamentarians. Although the issue was rarely discussed until recently, French people have long known that some of their most prominent citizens--particularly in the arts and in intellectual endeavors--are gay or gender-variant. Also, while there are still many conservatively religious French people, the Church does not have the same grip on politics or public life that it once had. I think a line from one of Alberto Moravia's characters in The Conformist more or less applies to France: "Ninety percent of the people who go to church today don't believe." That may have been an exaggeration, but it does reflect one salient fact: In France, you simply don't find the kind of religious zealotry (at least among Catholics or other Christians) that you can easily find here in the US.
Plus, while the French like to think themselves as independent of world opinion (and, in fact, they sometimes are), I would think that with gay marriage legal in two of their neighboring countries ( Spain and Belgium) and in nearby Netherlands, and with same-sex unions recognized by two of their other neighbors (UK and Germany), they realize that the time has come for them to move forward. Or, at least, they don't want to see as more retrograde than any of their neighbors.
Plus--call me naive for saying this--I can't help but to think that if any of the European countries want to keep the EU together, they will have to work together on issues like same-sex marriage. As an example, if a Belgian EU officer is married to her girlfriend and is posted, say, to Latvia , where the law says that marriage is between a man and a woman, there could be complications, to say the least.
But I think that if France legalizes gay marriage--as I believe it will--most of the remaining European countries will. If Spain--which was one of the most conservative and Catholic countries not much more than a generation ago-- can legalize it, and equally-conservative and -Catholic Ireland can recognize same-sex partnerships, what's to stop France or any other European country (save, perhaps, Poland) from doing the same?
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