Italy's Conservative Turn: What It Means for LGBTQ+ Families and the Way Forward
In 2018, Maria Silvia Fiengo and Francesca Pardi became one of Italy's first same-sex couples to register as their children's parents.
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LGBTQ+ families: In 2018, Maria Silvia Fiengo and Francesca Pardi were among the first same-sex couples in Italy to register as parents of their children. Giuseppe Sala, the mayor of Milan, took a progressive stance and allowed children born to same-sex parents to be recognized, even though there was no clear national law on the matter.
For Maria Silvia and Francesca and their four children, Margherita, the twins Giorgio and Raffaele, and Antonio, being finally recognized as a family after years of legal challenges and discrimination was "truly incredible." Yet this week, what had been seen as a landmark victory for equality and acceptance within the LGBT community turned into the opposite.
Ending the registration of children in LGBTQ+ families
Italy's right-wing government ordered the Milan city council to stop registering the children of same-sex parents, sparking debate over the conservative agenda of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Hundreds of people protested the government's ban in Milan on Saturday.
Elly Schlein, the newly elected leader of the center-left Democratic Party, was among them. She said her message to the Prime Minister was: "Don't discriminate against the daughters and sons of these wonderful families. We are talking about boys and girls who are growing up in our communities and already attend our schools." Schlein said, "It is no longer tolerable, and these families are tired of being discriminated against."
Hundreds of people come out to support LGBTQ+ families
Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, made anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric a cornerstone of her election campaign, promising to defend traditional values. "We have always been the same family, but receiving official recognition from our mayor made us feel welcome," said Maria Silvia Fiengo. "Today, seeing what the government is doing and knowing that other families cannot have the same opportunity, we feel disheartened."
Italy granted same-sex couples civil union rights in 2016 under a center-left government.
However, fierce opposition from Catholic and conservative groups meant the law did not grant same-sex couples the right to adopt either. Opponents argued it would encourage surrogacy, which remains illegal in Italy. That left a regulatory vacuum surrounding many aspects of LGBTQ+ family life, including adoption, with solutions addressing bureaucratic obstacles on a case-by-case basis. When cases reached the courts, some local officials, including Milan's center-left mayor, decided that children of same-sex couples could be registered independently.
Campaigning against what she calls "gender ideology"
Before her election victory, Giorgia Meloni campaigned against what she called "gender ideology" and the "LGBT lobby." Now Sala has announced that he has been forced to halt the practice after receiving a letter from the Ministry of the Interior. It cited a ruling by Italy's highest court requiring court approval to legally establish parenthood. "It is a clear step backward, both politically and socially, and I feel for the parents who believed they could rely on this possibility in Milan," the mayor said on his daily podcast, Buongiorno Milano, adding that he was left with no other choice.
Children denied the right to have both parents recognized on their birth certificates are left in a legal limbo.
Their families face many challenges. In the most extreme cases, if the legally recognized parent dies, the children could become wards of the state and face the prospect of being orphaned.
A hostile approach to the rights of LGBTQ+ families
Within Italy's LGBTQ+ community, this has fueled growing frustration and anxiety, while the Meloni government's hostile approach to LGBTQ+ rights has made the problem even worse. "Children have limited access to essential services and benefits such as healthcare, inheritance, and child support," said Angelo Schillaci, a law professor at Sapienza University in Rome. "Right now, the law recognizes only one parent; the other is a ghost. In real life, parents and children play together, cook together, do sports, and go on vacation together. But on paper, they are apart. The state does not see them. It is a contradictory situation."
Maria Silvia Fiengo and Francesca Pardi were registered as the parents of their four children in Milan in 2018.
The Prime Minister, elected last September, is a leading champion of the traditional family and Christian values, campaigning against what she calls "gender ideology" and the "LGBT lobby." Months before she came to power, she proposed a law that would make surrogacy by Italian citizens a universal crime, and it remains on her party's agenda.
"Boys and girls with two mothers or two fathers already exist in Italy. Prime Minister Meloni should address this," said Alessia Crocchini, president of the Rainbow Families Association. "We have to guarantee that our children have the same rights as their peers."
Amid the rise to power of Italy's new far-right Prime Minister, "we feel under attack," said Angela Diomede, who planned to join the rally in Milan with her wife and their six-year-old daughter. "I don't understand the government's obsession with targeting children. It leads nowhere." Italy's Senate this week also rejected a proposal for a standardized European parenthood certificate that would be recognized across all 27 European Union member states.
For children, it would mean establishing parentage, and for parents, securing the right to be recognized throughout the European Union, protecting rights such as inheritance and citizenship. But for Matteo Salvini, Italy's far-right infrastructure minister, that goes too far. "A person can be heterosexual, gay, or bisexual. Love is free, beautiful, and sacred for everyone," he tweeted. "Brussels cannot impose its idea of family on us. Children need a mother and a father. Children are not bought, not rented, not chosen online."
Stefano and his partner have six-year-old twins, born in California through surrogacy, and hope one day to be legally recognized as a family. In the United States, both are recognized as parents, but in Italy, Stefano is listed as a single father, and that legal status makes life complicated.
"Even things that are ordinary for most people, like driving the kids to kindergarten or taking them to the doctor, can become a challenge," he told the BBC. "They don't see us, but our love is as strong as ever. That is real."
Reference: BBC NEWS
Verified references
Links and relevance to the article’s main topic were reviewed on 13 August 2026. Each source supports only the scope stated in the original document and does not replace personalised medical, legal, or service advice.
- OHCHR: LGBT rights fact sheet Accessed 13 August 2026
