This article is about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history in Italy.
BCE
![Etruscan bull fresco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Etruscan_bull_fresco.jpg)
* 5th millennium BC - Examples of homosexual eroticism in
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories coin ...
or
Mesolithic European art in
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. In
Addaura
Addaura is a seaside village or Frazione of Palermo, Italy included in the VII District. It resides on the Lungomare Cristoforo Colombo, which starts from the south-east border of Mondello and reaches Palermo bypassing Monte Pellegrino.
The local ...
incision is a group of people dancing around two men, both with erections, possibly indicating a homoerotic ritual.
*530 BC – One of the earliest examples of Etruscan art on homosexuality, found in 1892 in the
Necropolis of Monterozzi near
Tarquinia
Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status ...
. The painting, situated in what has been called the
Tomb of the Bulls
The Tomb of the Bulls ( it, Tomba dei Tori) is an Etruscan tomb in the Necropolis of Monterozzi near Tarquinia, Lazio, Italy. It was discovered in 1892 and has been dated back to either 540–530 BC or 530–520 BC. According to an ins ...
(Italian: ''Tomba dei Tori''), depicts on the right a bull with a man's face (
Acheloos) and an erect phallus that is aggressively approaching two men having sexual intercourse. On the left, another bull is turned around, as though indifferent, in front of men and women having sexual intercourse. The women are consistently depicted in light tones, while the men are brown. Under the frieze is
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pele ...
(on the left) waylaying
Troilus
Troilus ( or ; grc, Τρωΐλος, Troïlos; la, Troilus) is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War. The first surviving reference to him is in Homer's ''Iliad,'' composed in the late 8th century BCE.
In Greek myth ...
. This representation is the only one in archaic Tarquinian
parietal painting representing a scene derived from Greek mythology; it used the legend about the
bisexuality of Achilles to demonstrate that, among the Greeks, same-sex love was a common and ordinary fact. This shows how, even then, homosexuality could be a worthwhile topic in the conflict between populations. Below is the tree of life, full of leaves, linked by the sash of life with the skeletal tree of death, with the black festoon of death hanging from a branch. The
onomastic
Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An '' orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study.
Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, ...
inscription in the centre of the upper frieze names he who probably was the owner of the tomb: Aranth Suprianas.
*470 BC – An important example is the "
Tomb of the Diver
The Tomb of the Diver, located in Paestum, is known for the mysterious subject matter of the frescos adorning the walls. The origin of this tomb is somewhat mysterious as well. There has been scholarly debate about whether the tomb was built by a ...
" in
Paestum
Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
, in particular the painted scene of the Symposium.
600 BC-1 BC
*509 BC – The
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
is founded. Homosexuality, as in Greece, is widespread and legalized throughout the Roman heyday, from the Republic to the Empire (see
Homosexuality in ancient Rome
Homosexuality in ancient Rome often differs markedly from the contemporary West. Latin lacks words that would precisely translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dichotomy of ancient Roman sexuality was active/ dominant/masculine ...
).
* 149 BC – The
Lex Scantinia, a Roman law, regulates homosexuality for the first time on record. According to the law, homosexuality should be denied between freeborn adult males and for the youth of noble families not to participate in male prostitution. It is also probable that such a law was meant to prevent the possibility of a noble-born man becoming subject to sodomy by a slave.
1st century BC
* 100 BC—100 AD – Found in the ''
Terme suburbane'' of
Pompei is the only representation of a
lesbian scene surviving from the Roman era, and also a fresco of triple intercourse between men.
* 80 BC –
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...
allegedly has a love affair with king
Nicomedes IV of Bithynia
Nicomedes IV Philopator ( grc-gre, Νικομήδης Φιλοπάτωρ) was the king of Bithynia from c. 94 BC to 74 BC. (''numbered as III. not IV.'') He was the first son and successor of Nicomedes III of Bithynia.
Life
Memnon of Heraclea wro ...
.
* 57 BC–54 BC –
Catullus
Gaius Valerius Catullus (; 84 - 54 BCE), often referred to simply as Catullus (, ), was a Latin poet of the late Roman Republic who wrote chiefly in the neoteric style of poetry, focusing on personal life rather than classical heroes. His ...
writes the ''Carmina'', including love poems to Giovenzio, boasting of sexual prowess with youth and including violent invective against passive sodomites.
* 42 BC–39 BC –
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
writes the ''Eclogæ vel Bucolica'', with many references to homosexual love and relationship.
* 27 BC – The Roman Empire begins with the reign of
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...
. The first recorded
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
s occur during this period.
* 26, 25, and 18 BC –
Tibullus
Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins.
Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a f ...
writes the ''Carmina'', with references to homosexuality.
Romans, like Greeks, tolerated love and sex among men. Two Roman Emperors publicly married men, some had gay lovers themselves, and homosexual prostitution was taxed. However, like the Greeks, passivity and effeminacy were not tolerated, and an adult male freeborn Roman could lose his citizen status if caught performing fellatio or being penetrated.
[(Fone, 2000)]
AD 1-599
1st century CE
![Bust of Elagabalus - Palazzo Nuovo - Musei Capitolini - Rome 2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Bust_of_Elagabalus_-_Palazzo_Nuovo_-_Musei_Capitolini_-_Rome_2016.jpg)
* 8 – Female same-sex desire is described as something strange and unnatural in
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
's
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...
, in the tale of Iphis and Ianthe."So, birds mate, and among all animals, not one female is attacked by lust for a female. I wish I were not one!" says Iphis of her desire for Ianthe.
* 54 –
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 unti ...
becomes
Emperor of Rome. Nero married two men in legal ceremonies,
Pythagoras
Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His politi ...
and
Sporus
Sporus was a young slave boy whom the Roman Emperor Nero favored, had castrated, and married.Champlin, 2005, p.145Smith, 1849, p.897
Life
Little is known about Sporus' background except that he was a youth to whom Nero took a liking. He may h ...
, with the later accorded the same honours as a Caesar's wife.
* 86-93 – The Roman poet
Martial satirizes lesbians and his own mystification about lesbianism in his
Epigrams. "Only the Sphinx could interpret this riddle right: that where there is no man, there is adultery."
* 98 –
Trajan
Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
, one of the most beloved of Roman emperors, begins his reign. Trajan was well known for his homosexuality and fondness for young males. This was used to advantage by the king of
Edessa,
Abgar VII, who, after incurring the anger of Trajan for some misdeed, sent his handsome young son to make his apologies, thereby obtaining pardon.
2nd century
* 165 – Christian martyr ''Giustino'' writes: "We have learned that is an evil thing to show newborns, since we see that almost everyone, not only the girls but boys too, are forced into prostitution".
3rd century
* 218 – The emperor
Elagabalus
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, 204 – 11/12 March 222), better known by his nickname "Elagabalus" (, ), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for s ...
's reign begins. At different times, Elagabalus marries five women and a man named Zoticus, an athlete from
Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
, in a lavish public ceremony at Rome;
[''Augustan History'', Life of Elagabalu]
10
/ref> but the Syrian's most stable relationship is with the chariot driver Hierocles, and Cassius Dio says Elagabalus delighted in being called Hierocles' mistress, wife, and queen. The emperor wears makeup and wigs, prefers to be called a lady and not a lord, and offers vast sums to any physician who can provide him with a vagina; for this reason, the emperor is seen by some writers as an early transgender figure and one of the first on record as seeking sex reassignment surgery
Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a transgender or transsexual person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their identified gender, and a ...
.[Tess deCarlo, ''Trans History'' (), page 32]
* 244–249 – Emperor Philip the Arab
Philip the Arab ( la, Marcus Julius Philippus "Arabs"; 204 – September 249) was Roman emperor from 244 to 249. He was born in Aurantis, Arabia, in a city situated in modern-day Syria. After the death of Gordian III in February 244, Philip, ...
tries and fails to outlaw homosexual prostitution.[
]
4th century
* 342 – The first law against pretended same-sex marriage was promulgated by the Christian emperors Constantius II
Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic ...
and Constans
Flavius Julius Constans ( 323 – 350), sometimes called Constans I, was Roman emperor from 337 to 350. He held the imperial rank of '' caesar'' from 333, and was the youngest son of Constantine the Great.
After his father's death, he was mad ...
.
* 390 – In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II
Valentinian II ( la, Valentinianus; 37115 May 392) was a Roman emperor in the western part of the Roman empire between AD 375 and 392. He was at first junior co-ruler of his brother, was then sidelined by a usurper, and only after 388 sole rul ...
, Theodosius I
Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...
and Arcadius
Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ...
declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be burned alive
''Burned Alive: A Victim of the Law of Men'' is a best-selling book, ostensibly a first-person account of an attempted honor killing. The author, Souad, is described as a Palestinian woman now living in Europe who survived an attempted murder ...
in front of the public.
5th century
* 498 – In spite of the laws against gay sex, the Christian emperors continued to collect taxes on male prostitutes until the reign of Anastasius I, who finally abolishes the tax in favor of sampling of the best men.
6th century
* 529 – The Christian emperor Justinian I
Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565.
His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renova ...
(527–565) makes homosexuals a scapegoat for problems such as "famines
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompan ...
, earthquakes, and pestilences." The Justinian code
The ''Corpus Juris'' (or ''Iuris'') ''Civilis'' ("Body of Civil Law") is the modern name for a collection of fundamental works in jurisprudence, issued from 529 to 534 by order of Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor. It is also sometimes referred ...
is the first time active as well as passive homosexuals are punished; prominent religious leaders are castrated, tortured, dragged through the streets, and executed. This code shapes the status of homosexuals in Europe for the next several hundred years, until the Napoleonic Era
The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly, the second being the Legislativ ...
.
1000-1599
*1051 – Peter Damian
Peter Damian ( la, Petrus Damianus; it, Pietro or '; – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073) was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of '' Paradiso'' ...
writes the treatise '' Liber Gomorrhianus'', in which he argues for stricter punishments for clerics failing their duty against "vices of nature."
* 1140 – The Italian Monk Gratian
Gratian (; la, Gratianus; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian accompanied his father on several campaigns along the Rhine and Danube frontiers and w ...
compiles his work ''Decretum Gratiani
The ''Decretum Gratiani'', also known as the ''Concordia discordantium canonum'' or ''Concordantia discordantium canonum'' or simply as the ''Decretum'', is a collection of canon law compiled and written in the 12th century as a legal textbook b ...
'', in which he argues that sodomy is the worst of all the sexual sins because it involves using the male member in an unnatural way.[
* 1179 – The ]Third Lateran Council
The Third Council of the Lateran met in Rome in March 1179. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended. The Catholic Church regards it as the eleventh ecumenical council.
By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter ...
of Rome issues a decree for the excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
of sodomites.
13th century
* 1232 – Pope Gregory IX
Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...
starts the Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
in the Italian City-States. Some cities called for banishment and/or amputation as punishments for 1st- and 2nd-offending sodomites and burning for the 3rd or habitual offenders.
*1250–1300 – Homosexual activity radically passes from being completely legal in the most of Europe to incurring the death penalty in most European states.
* 1265 – Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...
argues that sodomy is second only to murder in the ranking of sins.[
]
14th century
* 1321 – Dante's Inferno
''Inferno'' (; Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Italian writer Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem ''Divine Comedy''. It is followed by ''Purgatorio'' and '' Paradiso''. The ''Inferno'' describes Dante's journey through Hell, gui ...
places sodomites in the Seventh Circle.
* 1345 -- Guido da Pisa writes a commentary on '' Divine Commedia'', in which an illustration depicts Dante, Virgil, and homosexuals.
*1347 – Rolandino Roncaglia is put on trial for sodomy, an event that caused a sensation in Italy. He confessed he "had not ever had sexual intercourses neither with his wife nor with any other woman because he didn't ever feel any carnal appetite, nor could he ever have an erection of his virile member". After his wife died of plague, Rolandino started to prostitute himself, wearing female dresses because "since he has a female look, voice and movements – although he hasn't the female orifice but has a male member and testicles – many persons considered him to be a woman because of his appearance".
15th century
* 1476 – Florentine court records of 1476 show that Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and three other young men were charged with sodomy
Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''sod ...
, and acquitted. During the 15th century, Florence has a reputation abroad as "the capital of the sodomites" and the majority of men in the city are "at least once during their lifetimes officially incriminated for engaging in homosexual relations," according to historian Michael Rocke.
16th century
* 1512 - Renowned Sienese Painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi is nicknamed Il Sodoma
Il Sodoma (1477 – 14 February 1549) was the name given to the Italian Renaissance painter Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Il Sodoma painted in a manner that superimposed the High Renaissance style of early 16th-century Rome onto the traditions of ...
(The Sodomite) because of his homosexual activities. Bacci embraces the name and writes verses about it.
* 1532 – Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
makes sodomy punishable by death.[
* 1541 - Writer and noblewoman Laudomia Forteguerri publishes a series of love poems dedicated to her friend Margaret of Austria. Maddelena Campiglia is another 16th century female poet who explores the love between women in the 1580s.]
* 1500s - Same-sex desire between women is mentioned in several late 16th century romantic comedies of Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
theater, usually in the context of one or more characters secretly cross-dressing as the opposite sex. "I am not the first person who has loved a woman," says "the female Cesare" in the play Alessandro. "Histories, ancient and modern, are full of accounts which have reinforced this fire that consumes me."
* 1578 - A community of men who performed same-sex marriages with one another is discovered in San Giovanni in Porta Latina basilica in Rome. Eight men are hanged and their bodies burned as a result. A later episode of same sex marriage involving clergymen is discovered in Naples.
17th century
* 1620s - Lesbian nun Benedetta Carlini, the abbess
An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa''), also known as a mother superior, is the female superior of a community of Catholic nuns in an abbey.
Description
In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Copt ...
of the Convent of the Mother of God in Pescia
Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy.
It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name.
History
Archaeological excavations have suggest ...
, shares her cell with Sister Bartolomea. When the two nuns make love, Sister Benedetta experiences
Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...
mystical visions and angelic possession. The ecclesiastic forces of the Counter-Reformation investigate her mystical experiences and, upon discovering her lesbian sexuality, strip her of her position as abbess and hold her under guard for the remainder of her life.
18th century
* 1755 - Gay art historian Johann Joachim Winckelmann
Johann Joachim Winckelmann (; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. "The prophet and foundin ...
comes to Rome and spends the rest of his life in Italy, where he earns the admiration of his intellectual contemporaries such as Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
and Herder for his masterful studies of ancient Roman art, replete with loving descriptions of the homoeroticism found therein.
*1797 Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
writes in ''Histoire de ma vie
''Histoire de ma vie'' (''History of My Life'') is both the memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a famous 18th-century Italian adventurer. A previous, bowdlerized version was originally known in English as ''The Memoirs of Jacques ...
'' about an ambassador, M. de Mocenigo and his lover, Manucci.
19th century
* 1805 - The Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
, the Kingdom of Naples, and the other French client states in Europe adopt the Napoleonic Code, under which homosexuality was not a crime. Upon the end of Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and Joachim Murat
Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...
's reigns and the restoration of preceding monarchies in 1815, the Napoleonic code was gradually abolished and homosexuality again became a crime.
* 1819- Poetic improviser
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
Tommaso Sgricci
Tommaso Sgricci (31 October 1789 – 23 July 1836) was an Italian poet and actor, hugely admired in his time for his talent in Improvisational theatre, improvisation.
Biography
Tommaso Sgricci was born in Castiglion Fiorentino, Arezzo (Grand Du ...
, after enormous theatrical successes throughout Europe, arrives in Rome to be crowned poet laureate, but his award is withdrawn at the last moment, and he is expelled from the Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
, allegedly because of his scandalous homosexual lifestyle.
* 1852- Lesbian actress Charlotte Cushman
Charlotte Saunders Cushman (July 23, 1816 – February 18, 1876) was an American stage actress. Her voice was noted for its full contralto register, and she was able to play both male and female parts. She lived intermittently in Rome, in an expa ...
moves to Rome with writer Matilda Hays
Matilda Mary Hays (8 September 1820 – 3 July 1897) was a 19th-century English writer, journalist and part-time actress. With Elizabeth Ashurst, Hays translated several of George Sand's works into English. She co-founded the '' English Woman's ...
and helps to foster there a group of independent expatriate female artists, writers and sculptors, many of whom are lesbians or bisexuals. The group, dubbed The White Marmorean Flock by Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
, included sculptors Edmonia Lewis
Mary Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire" (c. July 4, 1844 – September 17, 1907), was an American sculptor, of mixed African-American and Native American ( Mississauga Ojibwe) heritage. Born free in Upstate New York, she worked for most of ...
, Emma Stebbins
Emma Stebbins (1 September 1815 - 25 October 1882) was an American sculptor and the first woman to receive a public art commission from New York City. She was best known for her work ''Angel of the Waters (1873)'', also known as Bethesda Fountain ...
, Harriet Hosmer
Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (October 9, 1830 – February 21, 1908) was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century. She is known as the first female professional sculptor. Among other ...
and Anne Whitney
Anne Whitney (September 2, 1821 – January 23, 1915) was an American sculptor and poet. She made full-length and bust sculptures of prominent political and historical figures, and her works are in major museums in the United States. She received ...
.
* 1859 - Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
's articles 420–425 of the penal code promulgated by Victor Emmanuel II
Victor Emmanuel II ( it, Vittorio Emanuele II; full name: ''Vittorio Emanuele Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso di Savoia''; 14 March 1820 – 9 January 1878) was King of Sardinia from 1849 until 17 March 1861, when he assumed the title o ...
, which punished homosexual acts between men (although not women).
* 1860 - Crossdressing warrior Giuseppa Bolognara Calcagno's action of heroism against the Bourbon cavalry earned her the Silver Medal of Military Valor
The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry.
Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...
.
* 1860 - Italy unified, resulting in sodomy laws of Sardinia being spread to the rest of the state except for the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, taking into account the "''particular characteristics of those that lived in the south''".
* 1887 - Zanardelli Code of Giuseppe Zanardelli
Giuseppe Zanardelli (29 October 1826 26 December 1903) was an Italian jurist and political figure. He served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 15 February 1901 to 3 November 1903. An eloquent orator, he was also a Grand Master freemason. Zan ...
removes all references to the stigmatization of homosexual people across the entire territory of Italy.
* 1889 – In Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, homosexuality is legalised in the new Penal Code (effective 1890).
20th century
* 1919 - Sibilla Aleramo
Sibilla Aleramo (born Marta Felicina Faccio; 14 August 1876 – 13 January 1960) was an Italian feminist writer and poet best known for her autobiographical depictions of life as a woman in late 19th century Italy.
Life and career
Aleramo wa ...
publishes a fictionalized account of her lesbian relationship with writer Cordula "Lina" Poletti in her novel ''Il Passagio''.
* 1930–1945 - Benito Mussolini's Fascist government institutes the Rocco Code, which does not cover homosexuality. The government punishes male homosexual behaviour with administrative punishment, such as public admonition and confinement; gays were persecuted in the later years of the regime. Under the Italian Social Republic of 1943–45, there was an attempt to criminalise homosexuality; however, the law was never implemented and the Rocco Code survived the Mussolini government.
* 1968 -After a controversial trial, writer and artist Aldo Bribanti is sentenced to nine years in prison for brainwashing (Italian: ''plagio'') his younger male lover and another man. His lover undergoes shock treatments during 15 months in a mental institution.
* 1972- Activist Mariasilvia Spolato became the first woman in Italy to come out in a public square as a lesbian, losing her teaching license as a result. In 1971, Spolato was also a founder of '' Fuori!'', the first homosexual organization in Italy.
* 1972 First LGBTQ public protest as activists from Fuori! demonstrate against the categorization of homosexuality as a 'sexual deviance' at the International Congress of Sexology in Sanremo
Sanremo (; lij, Sanrémmo(ro) or , ) or San Remo is a city and comune on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination on the Italian Rivie ...
.
* 1979- The first Italian Gay Pride Parade
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The events ...
takes place in Pisa with about 500 people, as a protest against homophobic violence.
* 1980 - The first nucleus of what later became Arcigay was formed in Palermo on December 9, 1980 as ARCI Gay. It is later renamed '' Arcigay'', which becomes one of Italy's most prominent LGBT rights organizations.
* 1998 - A lesbian couple is registered by city officials in Pisa as 'a family' in their list of common-law marriages, causing condemnation by the Vatican.
21st century
2000-2004
* 2002 - Franco Grillini
Franco Grillini (born 14 March 1955) is an Italian politician and a prominent Italian gay-rights activist.
Career
He was born in Pianoro, Province of Bologna. During the 1970s, he took part in student political movements. He attended the Univer ...
introduces legislation that would modify article III of the Italian Constitution
The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...
to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. It is not successful.
* 2003 - Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment is illegal throughout the whole country, in conformity with EU directives.
* 2004 - Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
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, demogra ...
becomes the first Italian region to ban discrimination against homosexuals in the areas of employment, education, public services, and accommodations. The Berlusconi government challenges the new law in court, asserting that only the central government had the right to pass such a law. The Constitutional Court overturns the provisions regarding accommodations (with respect to private homes and religious institutions), but otherwise upholds most of the legislation. Afterwards, the regions of Liguria
it, Ligure
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(November 2009), Marche (February 2010), Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
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, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
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(March 2015), Piedmont
it, Piemontese
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(June 2016
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
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(April 2017), Emilia-Romagna
egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title ...
(July 2019) and Campania
(man), it, Campana (woman)
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(August 2020) enact similar measures.
2005-2009
* 2004 - A police officer is reportedly fired for cross-dressing in public while off duty.
* 2006 - The first transgender MP is Vladimir Luxuria
Vladimir Luxuria (), born 24 June 1965, is an Italian activist, television personality and actress. Luxuria was a Communist Refoundation Party MP, belonging to The Union coalition led by Romano Prodi.
She was the first openly transgender membe ...
, elected as a representative of the Communist Refoundation Party. While she is not reelected, she goes on to be the winner of a popular reality television show called '' L`Isola dei Famosi''.
* 2006 - Grillini again introduces a proposal to expand anti-discrimination laws, this time adding gender identity as well as sexual orientation. It receives less support than the previous one had.
* 2007 - On 8 February the government led by Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
introduces a bill which would grant rights in areas of labour law, inheritance, taxation and health care to same-sex and opposite-sex unregistered partnerships. The bill is never made a priority of the legislature and is eventually dropped when a new Parliament is elected after the Prodi government loses a confidence vote.
* 2007 -An ad showing a baby wearing a wristband label that says "homosexual" causes controversy. The ads are part of a regional government campaign to combat anti-gay discrimination.
* 2008 -Danilo Giuffrida is awarded 100,000 euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
s compensation after having been ordered to re-take his driving test by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport due to his sexuality; the judge says that the Ministry of Transport is in clear breach of anti-discrimination laws.
* 2009- The Italian Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies ( it, Camera dei deputati) is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical funct ...
shelves a proposal against homophobic hate-crimes, that would allow increased sentences for violence against homosexuals, approving the preliminary questions moved by Union of the Centre and supported by Lega Nord and The People of Freedom
The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...
(although 9 deputies, politically near to the President of the Chamber Gianfranco Fini, votes against). The deputy Paola Binetti, who belongs to Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
, has voted against the party guidelines.
2010-present
* 2016- Italy approves same-sex civil unions
* 2020- On 19 November, the Gay Party
The Gay Party ( it, Partito Gay), whose full name is ''Partito Gay per i diritti LGBT+, Solidale Ambientalista e Liberale'' ("Gay Party for LGBT+ Rights, Solidary, Environmentalist and Liberal"), is an Italian political group, being the first one ...
is officially presented as the first Italian political group dedicated especially to the defense of the rights of the LGBT population.
*2021 - The Italian Parliament passes an infrastracture bill containing a provision which makes advertisements with homophobic or transphobic messages illegal to expose on streets or on vehicles. The new law comes into force on 10 November.
See also
* LGBT rights in Italy
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Italy significantly advanced in the 21st century, although LGBT people still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. According to ILGA-Europe's 2021 report, the stat ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt History In Italy