CATANIA – An invasion by students interrupted a conference hosted today by the University of Catania in the main hall of the rectorate, entitled “Gender dysphoria in minors and alias careers in educational institutions: medical, anthropological and legal issues”, organized by the “Science and life” association. About one hundred young people entered shortly after the start and displayed banners with the words “Transphobia out of Unict!”, expressing dissent on the initiative and on the participants, including the mayor Enrico Trantino, the archbishop Luigi Renna and the senator Paola Binetti of Forza Italia (“already known for her statements against abortion and the LGBTQ+ community”, underline the student demonstrators).
“It is shameful, as well as worrying, that the University of Catania hosts a conference with such dangerous content – say the students who interrupted the conference -; at the same time Unict declares itself a place of inclusion and against all forms of gender discrimination. We need to clearly distance ourselves from these positions and once and for all not endorse an event whose only participants include associations and personalities well known for their anti-choice and discriminatory positions. In fact, the conference excludes the student community and LGBTQ people from the possibility of expressing themselves on the same level, yet we are the ones directly interested in this discussion. Precisely what should be a place of training and growth instead lends itself to discriminatory narratives and against people’s freedom.”
The conference was closed early and the room was cleared out. “We have no intention of remaining silent or passively accepting all this – the boys continue -. We have made it clear that this meeting is not admissible. They tried to hide the attack on the right to live free of LGBTQ+ people behind a fake presentation, which is why we prevented a discriminatory and transphobic narrative from being promoted as if nothing had happened, as if we weren’t talking about people’s lives and as if they have no say in the matter.” The conference was sponsored by the forum of family associations of Catania and Asp.
