Italy PM Renzi wins confidence vote on civil unions bill

Record ID: 104151

  • Title: Italy PM Renzi wins confidence vote on civil unions bill
  • Date: 11th May 2016
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (MAY 11, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING OUTSIDE ITALIAN CAMERA (LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT) SECURITY OUTSIDE ITALIAN CAMERA (LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT)
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2016 16:45
  • Keywords: Italy gay marriage civil unions vote
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • City: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0014HD81TZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi won a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament on Wednesday (May 11) on a bill introducing same-sex unions and giving some rights to unmarried heterosexual couples.
    The bill must now be given formal approval by the lower house later on Wednesday, after which it is due to become law.
    Renzi won the vote by 369 votes to 193, with two abstentions. He would have had to resign if he had lost the vote, but his healthy majority in the lower house made that highly unlikely.
    The bill cleared its first major hurdle when the Senate approved it with a vote of confidence on February 25 this year.
    To overcome opposition from within his own centre-left coalition, Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had to strip out the most controversial part of the text, which would have granted unmarried couples some adoption rights.
    Demonstrators from gay and civil rights groups expressed their satisfaction outside parliament but said this was 'just the beginning'.
    "Today is obviously an important step forward, a historic step, but we know that there is still a long way to go for full equality -- but this is an excellent starting point," the president of Arcigay, one of Italy's largest gay rights groups, Gabriele Piazzoni, said.
    The issue split parliament down religious lines, with politicians close to the Roman Catholic Church arguing that what was dubbed a 'stepchild adoption clause' would encourage gays to have babies with surrogate mothers, which is illegal in Italy.
    Italy is the only major Western country that has yet to recognise civil unions.
    The bill gives homosexual couples the right to receive a deceased partner's pension, the right to take a partner's name, inheritance rights and next-of-kin rights in medical emergencies -- all allowed only in marriage so far.
    Heterosexual couples are granted next-of-kin rights, but the other provisions are only obtained through traditional marriage.
    The bill is expected to be definitively approved by the end of the day.
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