Recognition of same-sex unions in Italy

Italy has recognised same-sex civil unions since 5 June 2016, providing same-sex couples with most of the legal protections enjoyed by married couples. A bill to allow such unions was approved by the Senate on 25 February and the Chamber of Deputies on 11 May and signed into law by the Italian President on 20 May. The law was published in the official gazette on 21 May and took effect on 5 June 2016. Prior to this, several regions had formally supported efforts for a national law on civil unions and some municipalities passed laws providing for civil unions. While they did provide for some real benefits, they were mostly of symbolic value.

In 1986, the Inter-parliamentary Women's Communist group and Arcigay (Italy's main gay rights organization), for the first time raised the issue of civil unions within the Italian Parliament. This was led by Ersilia Salvato in the Italian Senate and by Romano Bianchi and Angela Bottari in the lower house who together attempted to introduce the idea of legislation. In 1988, following lobbying by Arcigay, Alma Cappiello Agate (lawyer and socialist parliamentarian) introduced the first bill in Parliament (PdL N. 2340, Directive on the de facto family, 12 February 1988), calling for the acknowledgment of cohabitation between "persons". The bill failed, but Cappiello's proposal received wide coverage in the press (where some journalists spoke about second-class marriage), and acknowledged for the first time the possibility of homosexual unions.

During the 1990s, a succession of civil union bills were regularly introduced and rejected in Parliament, bolstered by discussion in the European Parliament on equal rights for homosexuals on marriage and adoption.

During the XIIIth parliamentary session, at least ten bills were presented (by Nichi Vendola, Luigi Manconi, Gloria Buffo, Ersilia Salvato, Graziano Cioni, Antonio Soda, Luciana Sbarbati, Antonio Lisi, Anna Maria De Luca, and Mauro Paissan). None of these ever made it to discussion on the floor of the House - not least due to the explicit influence and strident opposition of the Catholic hierarchy which often spoke up on political issues with an ethical resonance.

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