World News

Italy

Speaker Of Italian Parliament Authors Open-Letter To Suicidal 17-Year-Old Openly Gay Teenager

Parliament Speaker Laura Boldrini

ROME, Italy -- A public exchange of letters between a suicidal gay teenager and the Speaker of Italy's Parliament published last week in Italy's leading progressive newspaper, La Repubblica, has touched many Italians.  

The troubled youth, Davide Tancredi, wrote, 

"I am gay, I am 17-years old and this letter is my last alternative to suicide in a troglodyte society; in a world that does not accept me even though I’m born that way. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be born heterosexual. If there was a little less discrimination and a little more sympathy or Christian charity, people would stop hating.” 

In response to Tancredi's letter, Parliament Speaker Laura Boldrini, responded with an open letter of her own.

“I have a daughter not much older than you, and I’m deeply disturbed by your cry for help,” she said, before asking to meet Mr Tancredi in parliament to discuss how the situation for gays might be improved.

“A country that considers itself civilised cannot afford to live without a law against ‘homophobia, an evil that drives many young people to take their own lives,” Ms Boldrini said. 

According to The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), Italy is the most homophobic country in Western Europe. The IGLHRC s European branch told LGBTQ Nation that its status in large part is due to the influence of the Vatican. There are no laws or pending legislation allowing for civil partnerships and no measures to deter homophobic violence, bullying in schools, or discrimination in the workplace. In this respect, said the IGLHRC, Italy lags behind South Africa and several Latin American countries.