Shame on Italy. The gay news reports that some lesbian mothers are having their names removed from their children’s birth certificates to exercise their homophobic power.

Italy is my mother’s home country, where most of my relatives continue to live. The country may be risking a court overruling from the EU with this outrageous act of homophobia. I fought for years as part of what is now called FamilyEquality.org to make sure this kind of family destruction was not sanctioned by the United States in certain backward states.  Now EU member countries are trying to push the envelope and reverse all the progress Europe has made toward recognizing all types of families.

I wrote Family Equality hoping they make a statement condemning what Italy is doing and how the EU should respond.   As an Emeritus Board contact (with the honor of being listed on their website) and especially as an Italo-American, I am outraged to my core. 

The organization was known as Gay & Lesbian Parents Coalition INTERNATIONAL (GLPCI) when I was on the Board between 1996-2001.  While I’m glad they no longer have a trans-exclusive name, I do remember at our conferences having parents from other countries who wanted to see how the USA was securing rights for queer families like ours.