The northern Italian city of Padua has begun removing the names of non-biological gay mothers from the birth certificates of its children under new legislation passed by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Those birth certificates belong to 33 children of Italian women who had artificial insemination abroad and then registered their children with the city’s centre-left government, led by Sergio Giordani, in 2017.
The Padua prosecutor’s office confirmed to the CNN that, until Thursday (20), 27 mothers had been withdrawn from 27 birth certificates.
Giordani came to power promising to remove the traditional “mother” and “father” designations on birth certificates, but that was overturned when the Meloni government ordered local authorities to stop registering children of same-sex parents with both names.
The measure means that only a child’s biological father can be named on a birth certificate.
“Surrogacy” is illegal in Italy and gay marriage has not been legalized. As same-sex relationships are not recognized by law, the non-biological parent needs to make a special case to legally adopt their child.
The measure also prevents men in homoaffective relationships from registering the birth of their children with the names of both parents. Instead, they have to choose one to be the cool parent.
“There is no discrimination against children,” Family Minister Eugenia Roccella told parliament when she introduced the bill in June, explaining that children of gay couples would have access to school and medical services like those with only one parent alive.
The effect of the change is to limit certain rights for the unregistered parent and require them to be allowed to carry out everyday family tasks such as picking up the child from school or using public services on their behalf.
The local chapter of the LGBT campaign group, the Rainbow Family Association, has launched an official protest.
“These birth certificates have not broken any laws since they were signed in a legislative vacuum, which now leaves our children in limbo,” the group said in a statement.
“We ask that our children remain citizens, fully protected, and that our families are not destroyed by the government’s political will to impose a single family model.”
In March, Meloni’s government also introduced legislation to extend the nationwide ban on surrogacy to couples using these services abroad. If passed, anyone found breaking the law could face a two-year prison sentence and a fine of more than $1 million.
The law has yet to be debated in Parliament and has been criticized for specifically targeting same-sex couples, but would also extend to heterosexual couples using surrogacy services abroad.
Meloni has campaigned heavily with an anti-LGBT ticket and, since taking office in October, has voiced her desire to ensure that “all babies are born to one man and one woman”.
Padua is the first city in Italy to retroactively cancel birth certificates, but rights groups fear other regions, especially those controlled by centre-right governments, will follow suit.
In late June, around 300 women took part in a demonstration outside the courthouse in Padua after a state prosecutor in the city said the birth certificates of 33 children born to lesbian couples were not legal.
In a peaceful protest, women held signs with slogans such as “The teacher taught that we are all equal. Did your teacher not teach you?”
Source: CNN Brasil
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