ITALY: ANGELO PEZZANA

 

ANGELO PEZZANA

Angelo Pezzana was one of the most important figures in the gay rights movement in Italy. At a time when homosexuality was considered a perversion to be hidden, Pezzana made the voice of the LGBT world heard for the first time in public opinion.

This, in the Italy of the time, caused him numerous enmities and attacks. In the country there were strong communist parties or parties of neo-fascist inspiration which, despite the political opposition, share strong homophobic sentiments and in contrast to individual freedom.

Born in the province of Vercelli, after graduating he cultivated a passion for Jewish studies and worked as a bookseller in Turin (his was the historic Luxemburg bookshop, the subject of an anti-Semitic attack in 1988). A declared homosexual, he came out publicly and - despite a university professor friend of his advised him to continue in hiding - he decided to found an association that fought for gay rights: in 1971 the Italian Revolutionary Homosexual Unitary Front, better known, as FUORI !

As the name suggests, the group initially had a strong leftist orientation and was inspired by the Front homosexuel d'action révolutionnaire (FHAR) operating in France. The first action of national importance in which the Fuori! it was noted was the demonstration of Sanremo: in the Ligurian capital the first conference of the Italian Center of Sexology was being held dedicated to sexual deviations and therapies to cure them, such as electric shocks or hormonal treatments; about 50 activists from the Fuori showed up in front of the casino of the city, the venue of the meeting, with signs (including "Psychiatrists, we have come to treat you"), shouting slogans and, in the two following days, speaking at the conference proceedings from the table of speakers. It was April 5, 1972: according to many activists this date is the beginning of the homosexual liberation struggle in Italy.

In that same year, Pezzana - who also became director of the magazine Fuori! - joined the Radical Party, a libertarian party whose agenda was based on the promotion of human rights, of which he joined as a member of the national board.

Determined to include the group in the wider panorama of civil rights struggles of the time (those were the years of the referendum on divorce and the debate on abortion) and perhaps influenced by the cultural crisis that gripped the FUORI, Pezzana proposed a close collaboration political and organizational between the homosexual movement and the radical party.

This led to the internal split of the OUTSIDE, with the exit of the wing closest to the ideas of the socialist left.

In 1976 he ran for elections for the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies: he was not elected, but the resignation of an elected deputy allowed him to be appointed member of parliament on February 6, 1979.

 In 1977 his individual demonstration in Moscow in favor of the Soviet director Sergej Paradžanov, imprisoned for homosexuality, caused a sensation. The following year he was contacted by the actor Ugo Tognazzi, who asked him for advice regarding the script of the film Il vizietto.

Over time, Pezzana has become a reference point for liberal public opinion in Italy, thanks to his constant commitment to civil rights. His battle was also characterized by a great deal of attention in promoting cultural debate as an instrument for the advancement of civil rights.

In particular, it has initiated a fruitful dialogue with conservative sectors aimed at accepting the emancipation of homosexuals even outside the progressive or liberal riverbed. This led to collaboration, as a columnist, with numerous media outlets.