The killing of the Italian bill against hate crime and hate speech in the Senate is the perfect reason why European legislation is needed
On 27 October 2021, the majority of the Italian Senate voted to kill a bill on measures to prevent violence and discrimination on the grounds of sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
The bill, tabled by Alessandro Zan (Partido Democratico), would have protected LGBT persons, as well as also disabled persons and women, against violence and hate speech. Its adoption last year in the lower house of the Italian Parliament had received an overwhelming majority.
The defeat of the law is irreversible and a new law on the same subject matter can only be presented in 6 months with a different text. The bill was defeated with a procedure provided for in the Senate Rules of Procedure, whereby before the consideration of the articles of a bill, one senator from each group may make a proposal for it not to be considered. The request, presented by the Fratelli d’Italia and Lega parties, was accepted by the President of the Senate and voted secretly. Despite complying with the rules, this practice is against the praxis of the Senate. 154 senators voted against examining the bill’s articles, while 131 voted to discuss them and two others abstained. The legislative procedure therefore ended.
Fabio Massimo Castaldo MEP (Non-attached), Vice-President of the LGBTI Intergroup, comments:
What happened in the Italian Senate this week is a disastrous event. Not only did the Senate
some opposition Senators openly cheering and applauding the defeat of this bill. This is not the Italy we should be defending, because granting greater protection against hatred is not charity – it is the duty of any democratic state and an obligation towards its people. The
Intergroup had previously addressed the Senate to call for the democratic process to be followed. What the Senate did this week is incomprehensible.
Marc Angel MEP (S&D), Co-Chair of the LGBTI Intergroup, concludes:
Hatred lives and is fostered in environments where it is not challenged, where it can grow undisputed and unchallenged. The Zan bill would have directly counteracted this reality in Italy, where activists and civil society have put so much effort, time and dedication to simply be better protected by the state and law enforcement. Albeit extremely disappointing, this development can only mean one thing to this Parliament: that the upcoming proposal on hate crime and hate speech by the Commission must imperatively contemplate the situation and cover all the necessary grounds so as to ensure that hatred does not win against the ability to love, to be oneself and to be free from harm.