Debating Homosexuality in Italy: Plural Religious Voices in the Public Sphere

The relatively late legalization of same-sex partnerships in Italy in comparison to other European countries is partly due to the powerful presence of the Vatican within Italy’s borders and its voice in political debates. Although the number of Italians who actively practice the Catholic religion is decreasing, Catholic values are enshrined in history, laws, and everyday life, making Catholicism in Italy an “influential minority” with aspects of “vicarious religion.” In response to the legalization of same-sex partnerships, anti-European and anti-immigration populist forces have mobilized the Vatican discourse against “gender ideology” to gain public legitimacy. This chapter analyzes the complex entanglements of religion and homosexuality by looking at the shifting boundaries of public and private spheres, the contradictory and unintended effects of the Europeanization of LGBT+ rights, and the transformations of Catholicism and the plurality of the Italian religions’ positions on LGBT+ rights.