Thursday, October 15, 2009

Italian Parliament Votes Down Gay Hate Crimes Bill - by Kilian Melloy – EDGE Boston

The Italian Parliament killed a measure that would have extended bias crime protections to gays.

An Oct. 14 story at Catholic Culture characterized the bill as an attempt "to impose greater penalties for crimes motivated by ’homophobia.’"

The article said that Parliament members defeated the bill 285-222, after those opposed argued that the bill would violate the country’s constitution by granting additional protections to one group that were not available to all.

The article cited Rocco Buttiglione, a Catholic parliamentarian, as saying that gays in Italy are already protected from crime by existing law.

"The legal protection exists, and it is the same protection that the law accords to every other citizen," the article quoted Buttigliione as saying. Read complete article by Kilian Melloy - EDGE Boston

No comments: