Recognition of same-sex unions in Italy
Open-knowledge reference entry
Italy has recognised civil unions since 5 June 2016, providing same-sex couples with almost all of the legal protections, benefits and rights of marriage. A bill to this effect was approved by the Senate on 25 February 2016 and by the Chamber of Deputies on 11 May. It was signed into law by President Sergio Mattarella on 20 May, published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale the next day and took effect on 5 June 2016. The law does not grant same-sex couples joint adoption rights or access to in vitro fertilisation. Before this, several regions had supported a national law on civil unions and some municipalities passed laws providing for civil unions, though the rights conferred by these unions varied from place to place.
Italy remains one of the last countries in Western Europe not to have legalized same-sex marriage. Polling suggests that a majority of Italians support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Civil unions
Background
In 1986, the Inter-Parliamentary Women's Communist group (Interparlamentare donne Comuniste) and Arcigay, Italy's largest LGBT rights organization, raised the issue of civil unions in the Italian Parliament for the first time. This was led by Ersilia Salvato in the Italian Senate and by Romano Bianchi and Angela Maria Bottari in the lower house who together attempted to introduce draft legislation. In 1988, following lobbying by Arcigay, lawyer and Socialist parliamentarian Alma Cappiello Agate introduced the first such bill to Parliament, calling for the acknowledgement of cohabitation between "persons".
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