Holy See Fights Italian LGBTQ Bill

by Bill Donohue comments on an Italian bill that the Holy See is fighting: The Holy See is fighting an LGBTQ-inspired bill in Italy that would encroach on the free speech rights of the Catholic Church. The bill, which is the work of Alessandro Zen, a homosexual lawmaker, is being promoted by his followers as a necessary step to combat violence and hate speech. It is the latter issue that concerns the Holy See.

Italy already has laws that condemn homophobia, so Zen’s bill calls into question whether this proposed law is necessary. Catholics are rightly concerned that its real target is to muzzle their free speech rights. A more technical area of concern is whether the bill violates the 1929 Lateran pacts, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state.

Zen and his supporters say the Holy See has nothing to worry about as the bill does not seek to deny freedom of expression. But this is hardly reassuring: Such initiatives have been interpreted in many democratic countries in very expansive ways. What makes this such a serious matter is that those found guilty of hate crimes can face up to four years in prison.

Cesare Mirabelli, a former president of Italy’s constitutional court, said the bill would “put at risk” freedom of thought and speech. Others have argued that it could require Catholic schools to adopt state-mandated programs that work to undermine Catholic teachings on marriage and sexuality.

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said that discrimination is defined in broad terms and could be a real problem. “The need for definition is particularly important because the legislation moves in an area of criminal relevance where, as is well noted, what is allowed and what is forbidden must be well determined.”

The Holy See’s fears are real. It is a sad fact that LGBTQ policies, programs and laws are being used in Europe and North America to punish those who disagree with their agenda.

Journalists have been investigated by the police in England for using “the wrong pronoun” when discussing transgender persons. In other words, it is not acceptable for a reporter to call a man who transitions to a female “he” or “him.” England has also censored the speech of professors who are critics of the LGBT agenda. The same is true in Scotland.

This is nothing when compared to what is going on in Canada. A few months ago, a judge issued a warrant for the arrest of a father after he called his daughter “daughter” and used pronouns such as “she” and “her.” Because his daughter now identifies as a boy, her father was found to be in contempt of court. The father was sent to prison.

In California, they instituted a law aimed at those who work in long-term care facilities. The law authorizes jail time for anyone who “willfully and repeatedly” fails to use “a resident’s preferred name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the preferred name or pronouns.”

Jack Philips made headline news when the Colorado baker won in the U.S. Supreme Court when he refused to create a cake celebrating the “marriage” of two men. However, LGBTQ radicals will not give up in their quest to punish him. He recently lost in a Denver district court when he said he would not make a cake to celebrate a sex transition. Similar cases involving bakers and florists are before the courts.

Big business and education are also hot beds of radicalism. For example, Amazon is a proponent of book banning: It will not allow books to be advertised that criticize the transgender movement. A Virginia school suspended an elementary school teacher for not using the “proper pronouns” to describe a transgender student.

LGBTQ activists are not well represented in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, China or Japan. They tend to flourish wherever well-educated, totally amoral, white people live.

The Holy See has every right as a sovereign state to fight this menace. It is not the Catholic Church that is intolerant; rather, it is the zealots involved in this crazed movement.
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Bill Donohue (@CatholicLeague) is a sociologist and president of the Catholic League.

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