Rome holds LGBTQ+ Pride parade amid backdrop of Meloni government crackdown on surrogate births
Romes annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade wound its way through the Italian capital on Saturday, providing a colorful counterpoint to the national governments crackdown on surrogate pregnancies and same-sex parents.
About three dozen floats joined the event, including one celebrating what LGBTQ+ activists dub the rainbow families of same-sex couples with children.
Earlier this year, the government headed by far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni told municipal officials, when recording births, to register only the biological parent, and not the other parent in a same-sex couple.
Among those defying that order was Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who came to the parade a day after he said he transcribed with emotion and conviction, the birth certificates of children who had been born abroad to same-sex couples.
Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, wearing the three color band of the Italian flag, joins the LGBTQ+ Pride parade in Rome, Saturday, June 10, 2023. Rome's annual LGBTQ+ Pride parade is winding its way through the Italian capital. This year's version provides a counterpoint to the right-wing national government's crackdown on surrogate pregnancies. Earlier this year, the government headed by far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni told municipal officials to refrain from recording both members of a same-sex couple as the parent of the child, only the biological parent. Among those who have defied that order was center-left Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, who came to Saturday's parade. (Mauro Scrobogna/LaPresse via AP) © Provided by The Associated Press
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