Kirsty and I have been thinking about going to Italy next year. Now? Not so much...
Quote:
Gay Couple Arrested For Kissing At Rome's Coliseum
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: July 28, 2007 - 9:00 am ET
(Rome) Two gay men have been charged with "lewd conduct" for kissing in front of the Coliseum in Rome.
The pair were rushed into a police car and taken to a police station where they were held for several hours. Eventually they were issued a summons to appear in court and released.
If convicted the pair could be sentenced up to two years in prison.
The incident has sparked a public outcry in Italy.
Italian LGBT civil rights group Arcigay called it an outrage and accused the police of homophobia.
Police deny the accusation, but were unable to provide evidence that any opposite-sex couple had ever been arrested for a similar kiss at the famed tourist spot.
Italy's Health Minister Livia Turco called the arrests a national embarrassment.
Vladimir Luxuria, a Communist politician and Italy's first transsexual lawmaker said she would raise the issue in Parliament.
"It's worrying that a gesture of affection is considered a crime," she told La Repubblica daily. "It's absurd that two young people who love each other should spend the night in a police station without having done anything obscene."
Both Arcigay and Turco have demanded the charges be dropped and that police issue an apology to the two men, aged 28 and 27.
Meanwhile, Arcigay has called for a "national gay kiss-in" at the Coliseum on August 2.
Submitted by
on July 28, 2007 - 5:24pm.
Kiss-in
Someone should stage a kiss-in. You know, with queers and straights, and just see who gets arrested. (Presumably they wouldn't be so stupid as to arrest anyone, but it might help make a point...)
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
Not Only But Also
The article mentions that
The article mentions that Arcigay is doing one on August 2nd. I hope a lot of people (gay and straight) show up.
True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one's self, but the point is not only to get out, you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand. -Henry James
koma & kirsty
i think this just means that you 2 should go next wk & participate! i'll tune onto bbc to watch you on the news, k? ;)
"didn't i throw you out of a window? " - jessica/nikki, heroes
Actually!
We were planning a vacation to Italy! I'm not sure if we want to now. Actually, I really want to go to Vatican City and put on a show for the pope! :-P
"Today is the tomorrow you were worrying about yesterday"
You prolly won't see the
Strange
That's so weird (terrible, bigoted, etc). I was there literally a week ago, and there was an exhibit at the Coliseum about Eros... Part of the exhibit was about male homosexuality in ancient Greek culture and used several quotations from the Symposium. The exhibit even displayed Greek pottery with gay scenes. Male-male kissing would definitely have been one of the least "lewd" of the pottery scenes.
I read this in Corriere
Police says that they were doing something more than kissing. Jeeeez! First, I don't think so. Second, I've done so much more on the streets of Rome in the middle of the day, and noone even second-looked at me.
.
Is being gay a crime in Italy? If not, and if kissing in public is also not a crime, then the charges must be dropped.
Arcigay sounds like an awesome group.
__________________
"The world will not greet you with open arms, but with a clenched fist."
Being gay is not a crime in
Arcigay is a great organization with taste and sense of humour.
'nuff said.
You're not from Italy but you know very well the country, I see ;) Maybe your gf tought you something, eheh. I agree with you. And thank you for your replies on this topic.
Maybe we'll meet someday at Coming Ot ;)
One month ago when i was in
One month ago when i was in Rome with my gf and we kissed on same place, all what happened was some 5 men did run immediately to us and asked us to repeat it so they could take some photos for them selfs.
All what i wanted to do for them was hit them.
italy is great
there is plenty of tolerance in italy, this is just one of those shitty instances of homophobia coupled with sensationalism. ive been to italy, and trust me its gorgeous and definetely worth a visit. it is one of the most ROMANTIC spots on the big grand globe.
we should all save our outrage for this country, the most puritanical backwards bigoted country in the world were this kind of stuff and horriffic hate crimes happen much too often.
oh and love is love. id go to jail for it any day. wish i could go to the kiss-in. i love italy. lets all go and be GAY, nay- ecstatic!
Hi everyone from Italy
I'm Marco, I live in Milan - Italy.
I confirm that here in Italy there's a lot of tolerance, especially in the big cities such as Rome or Milan, and that being gay (or kissing someone of the same-sex) is not a crime... absolutely. Eh eh. In their report the Italian policemen (Carabinieri) say that the two guys were having SEX in public near the Coliseum and that if the two guys were just kissing each other they obviously would not have taken any action. Now... it remains to be seen if the two guys are saying the truth (and so carabinieri have gone crazy that night) or not. However here in Italy there's a very big outcry... everyone that believes that it was only a kiss is outraged... even people that believe they were having sex in public say that carabinieri have gone too far. I often hear people say "reproaching and inviting them to go away would have been enough, the arrest was unnecessary".
MarcoMI
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