Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi officiated the first ever same-sex civil union to take place there, three months after a law recognizing them came into effect. Italy became the last European Union member to accept such unions.
Virginia Raggi che:"dato che ci siete vi va pure un assessorato al bilancio? No?!"#auguri #unionicivili ? pic.twitter.com/MuORGe8j5M
— Sylvana of Seas (@DarioBallini) September 17, 2016
Luca de Sario, 30, and Francisco Raffaele Villarusso, 43, were initially planning on having their ceremony in Spain.
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“We had already decided do it and we moved abroad, but when the bill was approved we packed up all our things and came back to Italy,” Villarusso told Euronews.
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auguri Luca de Sario e Francisco !!!!!!! presto anche noi !!! https://t.co/xHenfsSNFM
— Matteo Laureti (@matteolaureti) September 17, 2016
The civil union bill has been criticized for not going far enough, as it prevents same-sex couples from adopting and also creates tax and identity problems if they couples decided to combine their last names instead of choosing one. Legal name changes are usually only allowed if a person is under police protection or caused extreme “shame of humiliation” by their existing name, according to The Local, Italy.
Watch a report by Euronews below.
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jag4313
That’s another step forward… keep it going…
crowebobby
The irony is that until the AIDS epidemic Italy (and Rome in particular) was one of the gayest places on earth and had been for at least two thousand years. The only thing you couldn’t do was admit that you were doing it.
sfbeast
Congrats and good for them. But, those outfits !
Kangol
Bravissima, Italia e Roma!