Italian Senate Puts Off Vote on Civil Unions Bill
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Version 0 of 1. ROME — The Italian Senate has postponed a vote on a contentious bill that would recognize civil unions for same-sex couples, after a boisterous discussion that risked defeating the law. Debate over the bill — and in particular over a clause that would allow a partner in a same-sex couple to adopt the biological child of the other partner — has divided public opinion, as well as Parliament itself, mostly along ideological and religious lines. When discussion of the bill began Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lost an important ally: the populist Five Star Movement pulled its support of an amendment proposed by Mr. Renzi’s center-left Democratic Party that would thwart thousands of amendments proposed by the center-right opposition. Mr. Renzi has a slim majority in the Senate, and his own party is divided, so support from the Five Star Movement was critical to passage of the legislation, which Mr. Renzi supports. The decision on Wednesday to postpone a vote until next week will give Mr. Renzi more time to revise the bill, perhaps by altering or removing the contentious adoption clause, or seek other allies within the Senate that would allow it to move forward. Italy is one of the few countries in Western Europe that offers no legal recognition to same-sex couples. Gay rights advocates expressed deep disappointment on social media Wednesday. “I never really believed that they would finally pass this law,” one observer wrote on Twitter. “Unfortunately, this is Italy.” |