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105-818: RL was founded in 2005 by a split from the Italian Radicals of those radicals that were opposed to the formation of the Rose in the Fist alliance together with the Italian Democratic Socialists , as a component of the wider centre-left The Union , and instead supported an alliance with the centre-right House of Freedoms . The party united former Radicals, as many former members of the Italian Liberal Party and of Forza Italia . After 2006 general election (in which Della Vedova

210-402: A Prussian anti- sodomy law . In 1886, the psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing used the terms homosexual and heterosexual in his book Psychopathia Sexualis . Krafft-Ebing's book was so popular among both laymen and doctors that the terms heterosexual and homosexual became the most widely accepted terms for sexual orientation. As such, the current use of the term has its roots in

315-760: A liberal and libertarian political party in Italy . The party draws inspiration form 19th-century classical radicalism and the Radical Party . The RI are a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and were previously a member of the Liberal International . Established on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as its first secretary, the party describes itself as " liberale , liberista [and] libertario ", where liberale refers to political liberalism, liberista

420-616: A "liberal revolution" as opposed to the conservative and statist political establishment represented by traditional parties. The relationship between the Radicals and Berlusconi, whose allies included socially conservative groups at odds with the Radicals' cultural liberalism , soon ended. In the 1999 European Parliament election , the Bonino List obtained 8.7% of the vote and seven MEPs, including Emma Bonino , Marco Pannella , Marco Cappato and Benedetto Della Vedova . However,

525-414: A contemporary construction of sexuality that would have been foreign to their times. Other scholars see continuity instead. In social science, there has been a dispute between "essentialist" and "constructionist" views of homosexuality. The debate divides those who believe that terms such as "gay" and "straight" refer to objective, culturally invariant properties of persons from those who believe that

630-525: A free adult male and a free adolescent, was valued for its pedagogic benefits and as a means of population control, though occasionally blamed for causing disorder. Plato praised its benefits in his early writings but in his late works proposed its prohibition. Aristotle , in the Politics , dismissed Plato's ideas about abolishing homosexuality (2.4); he explains that barbarians like the Celts accorded it

735-578: A handful of accounts by Arab travelers to Europe during the mid-1800s. Two of these travelers, Rifa'ah al-Tahtawi and Muhammad as-Saffar, show their surprise that the French sometimes deliberately mistranslated love poetry about a young boy, instead referring to a young female, to maintain their social norms and morals. Israel is considered the most tolerant country in the Middle East and Asia to homosexuals, with Tel Aviv being named "the gay capital of

840-402: A homosexual orientation (the other is sheep). Many gay and lesbian people are in committed same-sex relationships. These relationships are equivalent to heterosexual relationships in essential psychological respects. Homosexual relationships and acts have been admired as well as condemned throughout recorded history, depending on the form they took and the culture in which they occurred. Since

945-593: A long-time association with Aldo Capitini , a pacifist activist nicknamed the "Italian Gandhi". On fiscal issues, the RI is usually liberal , supporting non-interventionist and free-market policies, but in recent times accepted part of the welfare state system, especially on healthcare. The RI is divided in two wings, i.e., the Friedmanians, who are influenced by Milton Friedman and the Chicago School , and

1050-536: A much more informal, unpublicized movement among British intellectuals and writers, led by such figures as Edward Carpenter and John Addington Symonds . Beginning in 1894 with Homogenic Love , Socialist activist and poet Edward Carpenter wrote a string of pro-homosexual articles and pamphlets, and "came out" in 1916 in his book My Days and Dreams . In 1900, Elisar von Kupffer published an anthology of homosexual literature from antiquity to his own time, Lieblingminne und Freundesliebe in der Weltliteratur . There are

1155-461: A negative connotation . Gay and lesbian are the most common alternatives. The first letters are frequently combined to create the initialism LGBT (sometimes written as GLBT), in which B and T refer to bisexual and transgender people. Gay especially refers to male homosexuality, but may be used in a broader sense to refer to all LGBTQ people. In the context of sexuality, lesbian refers only to female homosexuality. The word lesbian

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1260-576: A new government, thanks to her international standing and Pannella's lobbying efforts, Bonino was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Letta Cabinet . The cabinet lasted until 22 February 2014, when it was replaced by the Renzi Cabinet , which did not include Bonino. In November 2013, the party elected a new leadership: Bernardini secretary, Laura Arconti president and Valerio Federico treasurer. The party did not take part in

1365-534: A non-ideological, pragmatic, and open movement. The party is the only Italian political movement that consents to dual membership with other parties. The Italian Radicals has been described as representing "the most significant expression" of "libertarianism ... in the Italian context". Libertarianism in this sense is defined as follows: "In emphasising the importance of individual liberty and personal responsibility with respects to all matters, libertarians argued that

1470-465: A person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality , homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum . Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biological theories . There

1575-532: A punishment but must be confessed to the monastery. These codes apply to monks only and not to the general population. The Kama Sutra written in India around 200 AD also described numerous homosexual sex acts positively. There were no legal restrictions on homosexuality or transsexuality for the general population prior to early modern period and colonialism, however certain dharmic moral codes forbade sexual misconduct (of both heterosexual and homosexual nature) among

1680-786: A reconciliation with the centre-right. In the 2008 general election , the Radicals stood for re-election in list with the Democratic Party (PD). Under an agreement with PD's leader Walter Veltroni , six deputies and three senators were elected. After the election, Bonino was appointed Vice President of the Senate and the Radicals joined the PD's parliamentary groups. In June, Bernardini, Maria Antonietta Coscioni and Elisabetta Zamparutti (all three elected MPs) were replaced by Antonella Casu , Bruno Mellano and Michele De Lucia as secretary, president and treasurer, respectively. In November,

1785-414: A row with Pannella, Capezzone was forced not to run again for secretary and was replaced by rank-and-file Bernardini. Since then, although not officially leaving, Capezzone became very critical of the government and formed his own political association named Decide! , closer to the centre-right than the centre-left. Later on, Capezzone entered Forza Italia and became the party's spokesman. In November 2007,

1890-642: A special honor (2.6.6), while the Cretans used it to regulate the population (2.7.5). Some scholars argue that there are examples of homosexual love in ancient literature, such as Achilles and Patroclus in the Iliad . Little is known of female homosexuality in antiquity. Sappho , born on the island of Lesbos , was included by later Greeks in the canonical list of nine lyric poets . The adjectives deriving from her name and place of birth ( Sapphic and Lesbian) came to be applied to female homosexuality beginning in

1995-805: A state could criminalize sodomy , but, in 2003, overturned itself in Lawrence v. Texas and thereby legalized homosexual activity throughout the United States of America . It is only since the 2010s that census forms and political conditions have facilitated the visibility and enumeration of same-sex relationships. Same-sex marriage in the United States expanded from one state in 2004 to all 50 states in 2015, through various state court rulings, state legislation, direct popular votes ( referendums and initiatives ), and federal court rulings. In East Asia , same-sex love has been referred to since

2100-598: Is a Greek and Latin hybrid , with the first element derived from Greek ὁμός homos , "same" (not related to the Latin homo , "man", as in Homo sapiens ), thus connoting sexual acts and affections between members of the same sex, including lesbianism. The first known appearance of homosexual in print is found in an 1868 letter to Karl Heinrich Ulrichs by the Austrian-born novelist Karl-Maria Kertbeny . arguing against

2205-541: Is a natural and normal variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation . The most common terms for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males , but the term gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males. Other common labels that include gay people are LGBTQ and queer . The percentage of people who are gay or lesbian and

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2310-453: Is a strong opponent of dictatorial-like states such as China, Russia and Syria. Despite their non-interventionism, the RI is not pacifist and supports war actions where civil rights are absent and minorities endangered, e.g., the Kosovo and Afghanistan wars. The RI had supported several cultural and social mobilisations in support of several persecuted ethnic and religious minorities including

2415-466: Is also a word referring to same-sex love, homophilia . Some synonyms for same-sex attraction or sexual activity include men who have sex with men or MSM (used in the medical community when specifically discussing sexual activity) and homoerotic (referring to works of art). Pejorative terms in English include queer , faggot , fairy , poof , poofter and homo . Beginning in

2520-553: Is an Italian term for economic liberalism , and libertario denotes a form of cultural liberalism concerning moral and social issues. From 2001 to 2017, the party intended to be the Italian section of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) as the continuation of the Radical Party founded in 1955 by the left wing of the Italian Liberal Party and re-launched in the 1960s by Marco Pannella . As

2625-450: Is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males. A major hypothesis implicates the prenatal environment , specifically the organizational effects of hormones on the fetal brain. There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role in developing a sexual orientation. Scientific research shows that homosexuality

2730-531: Is derived from the name of the Greek island Lesbos , where the poet Sappho wrote largely about her emotional relationships with young women. Although early writers also used the adjective homosexual to refer to any single-sex context (such as an all-girls school), today the term is used exclusively in reference to sexual attraction, activity, and orientation. The term homosocial is now used to describe single-sex contexts that are not specifically sexual. There

2835-428: Is no need of regulation for free cohabitation of opposite-sex couples and, instead, he proposed swift procedures for divorce , which are very lengthy in Italy. Liberal Reformers were very keen on the return of Italy to the use of nuclear energy (which was prohibited by a referendum proposed by the Radical Party in 1987) and were also the party of the centre-right to be more involved in green politics , by contesting

2940-796: The Civil Marriage Act , which legalised same-sex marriage across Canada. Canada has been referred to as the most gay-friendly country in the world, ranked first in the Gay Travel Index chart in 2018, and among the five safest in Forbes magazine in 2019. It was also ranked first in Asher & Lyric's LGBTQ+ Danger Index in a 2021 update. In 1986, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Bowers v. Hardwick that

3045-494: The 2008 general election RL were part of the list of The People of Freedom (PdL) and had two deputies elected: Benedetto Della Vedova and Giuseppe Calderisi. Soon after the election, Daniele Capezzone, who had previously joined the centre-right, was appointed by Berlusconi as spokesman of Forza Italia. In 2009 the party was merged into the PdL and its members, led by Della Vedova, formed a new association named Libertiamo . The party

3150-527: The 2014 European Parliament election , partly due to lack of funds. During the annual party congress in November 2015, Riccardo Magi was elected secretary and Cappato president. Pannella, who did not speak at the congress, opposed the change, while Bonino, who was no longer in good terms with the old leader, did not even take part in the congress. However, in the following months Bonino decided to side with Magi and Cappato, who launched "Radical" lists for

3255-433: The 2018 regional election . In July 2018, +E started to organise itself as a full-fledged party. It was decided that a committee, presided by Gianfranco Spadaccia (a long-time Radical), would lead +E until the founding congress, scheduled for January 2019. The newly formed committee appointed Della Vedova as coordinator. In November, following his election to Parliament, Magi was replaced by Silvja Manzi as secretary; at

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3360-672: The Aztecs , Mayas , Quechuas , Moches , Zapotecs , the Incas , and the Tupinambá of Brazil. The Spanish conquerors were horrified to discover sodomy openly practiced among native peoples, and attempted to crush it out by subjecting the berdaches (as the Spanish called them) under their rule to severe penalties, including public execution , burning and being torn to pieces by dogs. The Spanish conquerors talked extensively of sodomy among

3465-462: The Criminal Code in 1969 to provide that anal sex between consenting adults in private (defined as only two persons) was not a criminal offence. In advocating for the law, the then-Minister of Justice, Pierre Trudeau , said: "The state has no place in the bedrooms of the nation." In 1995, the Supreme Court of Canada held that sexual orientation is a protected personal characteristic under

3570-631: The Duke of Buckingham , served to highlight the issue, including in anonymously authored street pamphlets: "The world is chang'd I know not how, For men Kiss Men, not Women now;...Of J. the First and Buckingham: He, true it is, his Wives Embraces fled, To slabber his lov'd Ganimede" ( Mundus Foppensis, or The Fop Display'd , 1691). Love Letters Between a Certain Late Nobleman and the Famous Mr. Wilson

3675-569: The Mixed Groups of the Chamber and the Senate respectively, together with the deputies and senators affiliated with Action , a political party led by Carlo Calenda . The sub-group in the Chamber continued to include "Italian Radicals" in its name. The party supported the centre-left coalition in the 2022 general election , with no candidates and elects. The 2023 annual party congress

3780-628: The Tibetans , the Uyghurs , the Degar and the Chechens . Homosexuality Homosexuality is sexual attraction , romantic attraction , or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender . As a sexual orientation , homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exclusively to people of the same sex or gender. It "also refers to

3885-513: The centre-left coalition in the 2010 regional election , but was defeated by Renata Polverini . In January 2013, the party announced that it would contest the upcoming general election on a stand-alone electoral list called Amnesty, Justice and Freedom ( Aministia, Giustizia, e Libertà ). In the election, the party received 0.2% of the vote, returning no deputies and senators. However, in April and after two months of failed attempts at forming

3990-416: The law and the church established sodomy as a transgression against divine law or a crime against nature . The condemnation of anal sex between males, however, predates Christian belief. Throughout the majority of Christian history , most Christian theologians and denominations have considered homosexual behavior as immoral or sinful . Condemnation was frequent in ancient Greece; for instance,

4095-494: The right to vote . The RI criticises sentiment against illegal immigrants, rejecting the "invasion" theory supported by far-rightists . On religious affairs, the RI follows the historical Radical Party's position of anti-clericalism , calling for the abolition of Lateran Treaty (approved in 1929 and modified in 1984) and secularisation. The party is a strong critic of the Catholic-dominated politics, underlining

4200-545: The 1990s, some of these have been reclaimed as positive words by gay men and lesbians, as in the usage of queer studies , queer theory , and even the popular American television program Queer Eye for the Straight Guy . The word homo occurs in many other languages without the pejorative connotations it has in English. As with ethnic slurs and racial slurs , the use of these terms can still be highly offensive. The range of acceptable use for these terms depends on

4305-480: The 19th century. Sappho's poetry centers on passion and love for various personages and both genders. The narrators of many of her poems speak of infatuations and love (sometimes requited, sometimes not) for various females, but descriptions of physical acts between women are few and subject to debate. In Ancient Rome , the young male body remained a focus of male sexual attention, but relationships were between older free men and slaves or freed youths who took

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4410-577: The 2016 municipal elections in Rome and Milan , in a move opposed by the leadership of the TRP, especially Maurizio Turco . The lists obtained 1.2% and 1.9%, respectively, and in both cases they supported the candidates put forward by the PD, either in the first or the second round, opening the way for the party's rapprochement with the centre-left at country-level. In May 2016, Pannella, who had long suffered from cancer, died and Italian politicians from across

4515-466: The Italian Radicals to join the centre-right in the next general election. Some days earlier, Della Vedova had wished that he, Marco Pannella , Emma Bonino and Daniele Capezzone will found themselves together again in the centre-right. On 7 November, when Capezzone finally left the Radicals and the centre-left, Della Vedova opened the doors of Forza Italia and the centre-right for him. In

4620-603: The Italian party system. In November 2005, the Radicals formed an alliance with the Italian Democratic Socialists (SDI), becoming de facto members of The Union coalition for the 2006 general election . The "rose in the fist", the symbol of the Socialist International (which included the SDI) which the Radical Party bought from the French Socialist Party , was chosen for the joint list that

4725-523: The Keynesians, who support neo-Keynesian or post-Keynesian economics. This divide declined in the 2010s, when it adopted moderate liberal trends on economy. On social issues, the RI appears as the most progressive party in Italy. The RI fully supports progressive stances including same-sex marriage , LGBT adoption , abortion , artificial insemination and euthanasia , vocally advocating for an advance healthcare directive (AHD). On healthcare,

4830-495: The M5S and the PD agreed to form a new cabinet together, under outgoing Prime Minister Conte. In September, +E decided not to support the newly formed Conte II Cabinet , despite opposition by Tabacci, Magi and Fusacchia. The three voted in favour of the government in the Chamber, while Bonino voted against it in the Senate. In October, Fusacchia announced he was leaving +E. In November 2020, Magi and Bonino formed joint sub-groups in

4935-754: The Middle East" and considered one of the most gay friendly cities in the world. The annual Pride Parade in support of homosexuality takes place in Tel Aviv. On the other hand, many governments in the Middle East often ignore, deny the existence of, or criminalize homosexuality. Homosexuality is illegal in almost all Muslim countries. Same-sex intercourse officially carries the death penalty in several Muslim nations: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mauritania , northern Nigeria , and Yemen . Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , during his 2007 speech at Columbia University , asserted that there were no gay people in Iran. However,

5040-586: The PD. The list won 2.6% of the vote in the election, falling short of the 3% threshold, but Bonino was elected to the Senate in a single-seat constituency in Rome, Magi to the Chamber also from Rome and Alessandro Fusacchia from the European constituency of Italians abroad. Contextually, the list obtained 2.1% and one regional councillor in the Lombard regional election and 2.1% and one regional councillor also in

5145-498: The RI have been associated with More Europe (+E), a broader liberal party led by Radicals or former Radicals. Quaderni Radicali and Notizie Radicali are the party's newspapers. Radio Radicale is the official radio station of the party; in December 2008, it was awarded by Italia Oggi as the "best specialized radio broadcaster". The Radical Party was long a left-libertarian movement in Italy, often proposing itself as

5250-669: The RI political though is influenced by ideas of Martin Luther King Jr. , Mahatma Gandhi , Immanuel Kant and Karl Popper . The Radicals have long adopted referendums to bring political changes. Since 1974, the Radical Party and its successor RI had purposed more than 110 referendums and were successful 35 times. Other political methods have included Gandhi-inspired nonviolence , the Satyagraha , also adopting extreme tactics like hunger strike and, occasionally, thirst strike. Pannella became involved in nonviolence after

5355-411: The RI support universal healthcare with possibility to choose between state-managed service and private insurances. The RI also calls for the legalization of prostitution and cannabis while enforcing the fight against hard drugs like heroin with harm reduction methods. On immigration, the RI supports ius soli policy and faster legal integration of regular immigrants, granting them citizenship and

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5460-536: The Radical Party had become a transnational non-governmental organization working mainly at the United Nations level, which by statute could not participate in national elections, its Italian members organised themselves into the Pannella List between 1992 and 1999 and the Bonino List until 2001, when they established the RI. In 2017, the TRP broke with the RI. From 2017 to 2022 and again since 2024

5565-550: The Radicals were not able to convert that electoral success into a more stable political influence, as subsequent elections would show. Shortly after the 1999 election, they deserted Berlusconi's proposal of welcoming them back into the centre-right fold and instead formed the Committee of Radicals for the Liberal Revolution and the United States of Europe, led by Cappato. In the run-up of the 2000 regional elections,

5670-581: The Riddle of Man-Manly Love. In 1867, he became the first self-proclaimed homosexual person to speak out publicly in defense of homosexuality when he pleaded at the Congress of German Jurists in Munich for a resolution urging the repeal of anti-homosexual laws. Sexual Inversion by Havelock Ellis , published in 1896, challenged theories that homosexuality was abnormal, as well as stereotypes , and insisted on

5775-548: The RnP was disbanded as the SDI merged with minor Socialist parties to form the modern-day Italian Socialist Party . The Radicals were at a new turning-point of their history. In the run-up of the 2007 congress, Pannella declared that the party should "give absolute priority to economic, liberal and libertarian reforms rather than the civil struggle to Vatican power, prepotency and arrogance", which had been central in 2006. This did not mean

5880-596: The TRP severed its ties with the RI (who were accused of boycotting the TRP) and the latter were forced out of the Radical headquarters. In November 2017, the RI formed, along with Della Vedova's Forza Europa (FE) and some members of the Civics and Innovators (CI), More Europe (+E), a pro-Europeanist list for the 2018 general election , led by Bonino. +E was part of the centre-left coalition led by Matteo Renzi and

5985-494: The activity of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP) and no longer in playing an active role in elections (as suggested by Pannella). The fracture was evident in September 2016 at the congress of the TRP, during which the faction of Turco and Bernardini soundly beat the other wing. At the November 2016 congress, in turn the RI confirmed Magi as secretary, while electing Antonella Soldo as president. In February 2017,

6090-616: The alliance (the Radicals alone got 2.3% in the 2004 European Parliament election ). The Radicals lost voters in their strongholds in the North to Forza Italia, while the Socialists lost ground in their southern heartlands to The Olive Tree parties (see electoral results of the RnP ). After the election, Bonino was sworn in as Minister of European Affairs and International Trade in the Prodi II Cabinet . In November 2006, after

6195-592: The ancient world. However, there were diverse sexual practices that varied in acceptance depending on time and place. In ancient Greece, the pattern of adolescent boys engaging in sexual practices with older males did not constitute a homosexual identity in the modern sense since such relations were seen as phases in life, not permanent orientations, since later on the younger partners would commonly marry females and reproduce. Other scholars argue that there are significant continuities between ancient and modern homosexuality. In cultures influenced by Abrahamic religions ,

6300-403: The broader 19th-century tradition of personality taxonomy. Many modern style guides in the U.S. recommend against using homosexual as a noun, instead using gay man or lesbian . Similarly, some recommend completely avoiding usage of homosexual as it has a negative, clinical history and because the word only refers to one's sexual behavior (as opposed to romantic feelings) and thus it has

6405-477: The cause in a neutral/scientific manner. Numerous artworks and literary works from this period also describe homosexuality. The Pali Cannon, written in Sri Lanka between 600 BC and 100 BC, states that sexual relations, whether of homosexual or of heterosexual nature, is forbidden in the monastic code, and states that any acts of soft homosexual sex (such as masturbation and interfumeral sex) does not entail

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6510-569: The classical pattern of Greece and Rome. But even as many of the male population were engaging in same-sex relationships, the authorities, under the aegis of the Officers of the Night court, were prosecuting, fining, and imprisoning a good portion of that population. From the second half of the 13th century, death was the punishment for male homosexuality in most of Europe. The relationships of socially prominent figures, such as King James I and

6615-410: The context and speaker. Conversely, gay , a word originally embraced by homosexual men and women as a positive, affirmative term (as in gay liberation and gay rights ), came into widespread pejorative use among young people in the early 2000s. The American LGBT rights organization GLAAD advises the media to avoid using the term homosexual to describe gay people or same-sex relationships as

6720-403: The earliest recorded history. Homosexuality in China , known as the passions of the cut peach and various other euphemisms, has been recorded since approximately 600 BCE. Homosexuality was mentioned in many famous works of Chinese literature. The instances of same-sex affection and sexual interactions described in the classical novel Dream of the Red Chamber seem as familiar to observers in

6825-422: The end of his reign, expanded the proscription to the active partner as well (in 558), warning that such conduct can lead to the destruction of cities through the "wrath of God". During the Renaissance , wealthy cities in northern Italy — Florence and Venice in particular—were renowned for their widespread practice of same-sex love, engaged in by a considerable part of the male population and constructed along

6930-425: The end of the 20th century, there has been a global movement towards freedom and equality for gay people, including the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay children at school, legislation ensuring non-discrimination, equal ability to serve in the military , equal access to health care , equal ability to adopt and parent , and the establishment of marriage equality . The word homosexual

7035-411: The entire political spectrum paid tribute to him. In the event, the party found itself increasingly divided in two factions: on one side Magi, Cappato and Staderini (who were backed by Bonino), on the other Turco, Bernardini and most of the staff of Radio Radicale (who were closer to the late Pannella). The former focused more on Italian politics and elections, while the latter were more interested in

7140-512: The epic, change genders, such as Shikhandi , who is sometimes said to be born as a female but identifies as male and eventually marries a woman. Bahuchara Mata is the goddess of fertility, worshipped by hijras as their patroness. Historians have long argued that pre-colonial Indian society did not criminalise same-sex relationships, nor did it view such relations as immoral or sinful. Hinduism has traditionally portrayed homosexuality as natural and joyful. The earliest Western documents (in

7245-406: The equality clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms . The federal Parliament and provincial legislatures began to amend their laws to treat same-sex relations in the same way as opposite-sex relations. Beginning in 2003, the courts in Canada began to rule that excluding same-sex couples from marriage violated the equality clause of the Charter . In 2005, the federal Parliament enacted

7350-404: The experiences they name are artifacts of unique cultural and social processes. "Essentialists" typically believe that sexual preferences are determined by biological forces, while "constructionists" assume that sexual desires are learned. The philosopher of science Michael Ruse has stated that the social constructionist approach, which is influenced by Foucault, is based on a selective reading of

7455-445: The figure of the Two-Spirit individual (the term itself was coined only in 1990). Typically, this individual was recognized early in life, given a choice by the parents to follow the path and, if the child accepted the role, raised in the appropriate manner, learning the customs of the gender it had chosen. Two-Spirit individuals were commonly shamans and were revered as having powers beyond those of ordinary shamans. Their sexual life

7560-534: The form of literary works, art objects, and mythographic materials ) concerning same-sex relationships are derived from ancient Greece . In regard to male homosexuality, such documents depict an at times complex understanding in which relationships with women and relationships with adolescent boys could be a part of a normal man's love life. Same-sex relationships were a social institution variously constructed over time and from one city to another. The formal practice, an erotic yet often restrained relationship between

7665-474: The ghettoisation of religious minorities, including atheists and agnostics. On foreign affairs issues, the RI has been a keen supporter of European federalism , non-interventionism , Atlanticism and Zionism , while advocating a two-state solution . The party is also a strong supporter of enlargement of the European Union including towards Turkey , Morocco , Israel and Palestine and

7770-462: The health care and education systems. They also proposed an American-styled reform of Italian political system (their slogan was "America, Market, Individual"), including presidentialism , competitive federalism , and a first-past-the-post plurality voting system . Despite being a small party, the RI were also keen supporters of a two-party system . In foreign policy they were staunchly pro- American and very supportive of human rights all over

7875-581: The hegemony of left-wing politics on these issues, and proposed a new liberal-green parth for the centre-right. Explicitly inspired by the "Vote blue, go green" campaign of the British Conservative Party led by David Cameron , they launched their own campaign on the subject, named "+ Blue, + Green. A competition of ideas. A liberal policy on the environment for the program of the centre-right". Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals ( Italian : Radicali Italiani , RI ) are

7980-812: The historical record that confuses the existence of homosexual people with the way in which they are labelled or treated. The first record of a possible homosexual couple in history is commonly regarded as Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum , an ancient Egyptian male couple, who lived around 2400 BCE. The pair are portrayed in a nose-kissing position, the most intimate pose in Egyptian art , surrounded by what appear to be their heirs. The anthropologists Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe reported that women in Lesotho engaged in socially sanctioned "long term, erotic relationships" called motsoalle . The anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard also recorded that male Azande warriors in

8085-432: The idea of male anal sex being "unnatural" is described by a character of Plato 's, though he had earlier written of the benefits of homosexual relationships. Many historical figures, including Socrates , Lord Byron , Edward II , and Hadrian , have had terms such as gay or bisexual applied to them. Some scholars have regarded uses of such modern terms on people from the past as an anachronistic introduction of

8190-548: The last Englishmen to be so hanged. To this day, historians are still arguing about the question of the Sexuality of Frederick the Great (1712−1786), which essentially revolves around the taboo of whether the myth of one of the greatest war heroes in world history is allowed to be psychologically deconstructed. Between 1864 and 1880 Karl Heinrich Ulrichs published a series of 12 tracts, which he collectively titled Research on

8295-556: The medieval Tang dynasty (618–907), attributed to the rising influence of Christian and Islamic values, but did not become fully established until the Westernization efforts of the late Qing dynasty and the Republic of China . South Asia has a recorded and verifiable history of homosexuality going back to at least 1200 BC. Hindu medical texts written in India from this period document homosexual acts and attempt to explain

8400-405: The most extreme opposition to the Italian political establishment. When Silvio Berlusconi entered the political arena in 1994, the Radicals, who were then organised mostly into the Pannella List and were attracted by Berlusconi's proposed economic liberalism , supported him, albeit critically and without becoming directly involved in his centre-right first government (1994–1995), in the hope of

8505-534: The natives to depict them as savages and hence justify their conquest and forceful conversion to Christianity. As a result of the growing influence and power of the conquerors, many native cultures started condemning homosexual acts themselves. Among some of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in North America prior to European colonization, a relatively common form of same-sex sexuality centered around

8610-424: The new leadership was confirmed by the national congress. In the 2009 European Parliament election , the Radicals ran separately from the PD under the banner of Bonino-Pannella List . Having obtained 2.4% of the vote, they failed to return any MEPs and were excluded from the assembly for the first time in 30 years. In November, Mario Staderini replaced Casu as secretary. Bonino ran for President of Lazio for

8715-576: The northern Congo routinely took on young male lovers between the ages of twelve and twenty, who helped with household tasks and participated in intercrural sex with their older husbands. As is true of many other non-Western cultures, it is difficult to determine the extent to which Western notions of sexual orientation and gender identity apply to Pre-Columbian cultures. Evidence of homoerotic sexual acts and transvestism has been found in many pre- conquest civilizations in Latin America , such as

8820-419: The only thing that may legtimately be demanded of others is non-interference. Hence, libertarians oppose state intervention to help individuals achieve self-realization (e.g., through welfare measures) or to protect them from themselves (e.g., through legislation against the sale and use of drugs). And on the same grounds they staunchly support private property and unregulated markets." According to Tom Lansford,

8925-566: The opposite happened: Berlusconi's conservative allies posed a veto on the Radicals, who wanted to re-compose the alliance. Consequently, they ran independent bids in most regions, obtaining elects only in Piedmont and Lombardy . In 2001, after a defeat in the general election (only 2.3% of the vote and no seats), they re-organised themselves as Italian Radicals and elected 28-year-old Daniele Capezzone as secretary and Della Vedova, Rita Bernardini and Luca Coscioni as joint presidents. In

9030-478: The opposite sex. During the colonial period, both the French and the British criminalised same-sex sexual relations. Anal sex between males was a capital offence. Post-Confederation, anal sex and acts of "gross indecency" continued to be criminal offences, but were no longer capital offences. Individuals were prosecuted for same-sex sexual activity as late as the 1960s, which led to the federal Parliament amending

9135-447: The party is a mostly libertarian, middle-class political grouping standing for civil and human rights . The RI claims the legacy of Risorgimento radical-republican figures such as Carlo Cattaneo , Giuseppe Mazzini , and Felice Cavallotti , and 19th-century liberal and socialist intellectuals as Gaetano Salvemini , the brothers Carlo and Nello Rosselli , Benedetto Croce , and party ideologue Ernesto Rossi . Internationally,

9240-587: The party was a founding member of a broad, liberal and pro-Europeanist list named " United States of Europe ", along with More Europe, Italia Viva , the Italian Socialist Party and the European Liberal Democrats , in order to overcome the 4% electoral threshold. In late April the list was joined also by L'Italia c'è . According to the party statute, the RI is both a " liberal , liberist and libertarian " party, and

9345-575: The present as do equivalent stories of romances between heterosexual people during the same period. Ming dynasty literature, such as Bian Er Chai (弁而釵/弁而钗), portray homosexual relationships between men as more enjoyable and more "harmonious" than heterosexual relationships. Writings from the Liu Song dynasty by Wang Shunu claimed that homosexuality was as common as heterosexuality in the late 3rd century. Opposition to homosexuality in China originates in

9450-467: The probable reason is that they keep their sexuality a secret for fear of government sanction or rejection by their families. In ancient Sumer , a set of priests known as gala worked in the temples of the goddess Inanna , where they performed elegies and lamentations. Gala took female names, spoke in the eme-sal dialect, which was traditionally reserved for women, and appear to have engaged in homosexual intercourse. The Sumerian sign for gala

9555-475: The proportion of people who are in same-sex romantic relationships or have had same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay and lesbian people not openly identifying as such due to prejudice or discrimination such as homophobia and heterosexism . Homosexual behavior has also been documented in many non-human animal species , though humans are one of only two species known to exhibit

9660-487: The receptive role in sex. The Hellenophile emperor Hadrian is renowned for his relationship with Antinous , but the Christian emperor Theodosius I decreed a law on 6 August 390, condemning passive males to be burned at the stake. Notwithstanding these regulations taxes on brothels with boys available for homosexual sex continued to be collected until the end of the reign of Anastasius I in 518. Justinian , towards

9765-419: The run-up of the 2005 regional elections , the Radicals understood that their isolation was no longer sustainable and took the unprecedented step of contextually asking to join either the centre-right House of Freedoms or the centre-left The Union , regardless of their respective political platforms. The request was turned down by both coalitions, but the effort opened the way for the party's re-positionment in

9870-531: The same congress Barbara Bonvicini was elected president and Antonella Soldo treasurer. One year later, Manzi, Bonvicini and Soldo were respectively replaced by Massimiliano Iervolino , Igor Boni and Giulia Crivellini . In August 2019, tensions grew within the coalition supporting the Conte government, leading to the issuing of a motion of no-confidence by the League . During the following government crisis ,

9975-459: The term is "frequently used by anti-gay extremists to denigrate gay people, couples and relationships". Some scholars argue that the term "homosexuality" is problematic when applied to ancient cultures since, for example, neither Greeks or Romans possessed any one word covering the same semantic range as the modern concept of "homosexuality". Nor did there exist a distinction of lifestyle or differentiation of psychological or behavioral profiles in

10080-458: The ubiquity of homosexuality and its association with intellectual and artistic achievement. Although medical texts like these (written partly in Latin to obscure the sexual details) were not widely read by the general public, they did lead to the rise of Magnus Hirschfeld 's Scientific-Humanitarian Committee , which campaigned from 1897 to 1933 against anti-sodomy laws in Germany , as well as

10185-467: The upper class of persists and monks, and religious codes of foreign religions such as Christianity and Islam imposed homophobic rules on their populations. Hinduism describes a third gender that is equal to other genders and documentation of the third gender are found in ancient Hindu and Buddhist medical texts. There are certain characters in the Mahabharata who, according to some versions of

10290-545: The world. Internationally Liberal Reformers, along with the Italian Radicals, were members of the Transnational Radical Party , a NGO working at the United Nations level. The party had a socially progressive stance on abortion and stem cell research , despite not stressing too much the point. The party supported also civil unions for homosexual couples, but, differently from other liberal parties, opposed civil unions for opposite-sex couples and same-sex marriage . Della Vedova explained this position by arguing that there

10395-466: Was due in December, but was suspended due to irregularities. The congress was thus rescheduled in January 2024: internal elections were deserted by the party's old guard and, as a result, 20-year-old Matteo Hallissey was elected secretary, 25-year-old Patrizia De Grazia president and 23-year-old Filippo Blengino treasurer. In March 2024, in the run-up of the 2024 European Parliament election ,

10500-696: Was elected MP on Forza Italia's list), the explicit aim of the grouping is to unite the Italian centre-right into a single party and to strengthen liberal and secular positions in it. Liberal Reformers acted both as a faction of Forza Italia both as a unifying agent of centre-right liberals. In October 2006, Liberal Reformers launched a manifesto called "Give a libertarian soul to the centre-right" together with famous journalists ( Vittorio Feltri , Arturo Diaconale , Filippo Facci and Giordano Bruno Guerri ), academics and politicians from both Forza Italia and National Alliance . On 1 November Della Vedova called on

10605-460: Was merged in 2009 into The People of Freedom. Within the new party Della Vedova distanced from his mentor Silvio Berlusconi and got very close to Gianfranco Fini and Generation Italy instead. In July 2010, Della Vedova left the PdL to become a member of Fini's new party Future and Freedom . Liberal Reformers had a libertarian platform, including a strong support for free market , privatization , deregulation , lower taxes, and competition in

10710-456: Was published in 1723 in England, and is presumed by some modern scholars to be a novel. The 1749 edition of John Cleland 's popular novel Fanny Hill includes a homosexual scene, but this was removed in its 1750 edition. Also in 1749, the earliest extended and serious defense of homosexuality in English, Ancient and Modern Pederasty Investigated and Exemplified , written by Thomas Cannon ,

10815-589: Was published, but was suppressed almost immediately. It includes the passage, "Unnatural Desire is a Contradiction in Terms; downright Nonsense. Desire is an amatory Impulse of the inmost human Parts." Around 1785 Jeremy Bentham wrote another defense, but this was not published until 1978. Executions for sodomy continued in the Netherlands until 1803, and in England until 1835, James Pratt and John Smith being

10920-531: Was thus named Rose in the Fist (RnP). This decision led those Radicals who were more keen on an alliance with the centre-right to split: this group, led by Della Vedova, launched the Liberal Reformers and joined the House of Freedoms, eventually merging into Berlusconi's Forza Italia . In the election, the list won a mere 2.6% of the vote, much less than the combined support for the two parties before

11025-514: Was with the ordinary tribe members of the same sex. During the colonial times following the European invasion, homosexuality was prosecuted by the Inquisition , sometimes leading to death sentences on the charges of sodomy, and the practices became clandestine. Many homosexual individuals went into heterosexual marriages to maintain appearances, and many joined the (unmarried) Catholic clergy to escape public scrutiny of their lack of interest in

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