The poster shows a newborn baby. Immediately, our eyes turn to the bracelet placed on the child's fragile wrist which, instead of any name, shows the word “homosexual”. Below, we read the phrase: “Sexual orientation is not a choice”. The photo is part of one of the most lucid campaigns ever carried out in Italy, which has been causing discomfort among the most conservative.
Promoted by the Ministry of Equal Opportunities of Tuscany, with support from the NGO Arcigay, the campaign, also made up of TV commercials, billboards and postcards that will be distributed in public spaces across the country, is an attempt to promote sexual and fight against homophobia. The same photo was used earlier this year by the Canadian foundation Emergence on World Day to Fight Homophobia, sponsored by the government of Quebec, the Canadian Ministry of Health and the city of Montreal.
“This is an honest campaign, which respects privacy and good taste”, says Agostino Fragai, advisor for Citizens' Rights in Tuscany. “What we are trying to say is that homosexuality cannot be considered an addiction, but just one of the many expressions of an individual's personality.”
On Arcigay's website, the association's president, Aurelio Mancuso, says that the new campaign is ahead of any other advocacy action for the GLBT community and, mainly, for any citizen. “Fighting homophobia is overcoming unattainable ideological barriers and a sign of a more just and peaceful society,” he writes.
The campaign is also part of the “Festival della Creatività” (Festival of Creativity), an event against sexual discrimination that will be held in Florence, the capital of the region, on October 26th and 27th.
Meanwhile, some Italian right-wing parties, such as the Union of Christian Democrats, represented by Luca Volonté, have classified the campaign as “horrible” and “shameful” and are calling for it to be withdrawn from circulation.
The Tuscany region was the first in Italy to pass a law, in 2004, against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
