Political document of the Campania Pompei Pride 30th June 2018
#RightsandSecularity #RemoveTheFrame
” La nostra Costituzione è in parte una realtà, ma
soltanto in parte è una realtà. In parte è ancora un
programma, un ideale, una speranza, un impegno,
un lavoro da compiere.”
Piero Calamandrei, Discorso sulla Costituzione, 1955
“We are everywhere!“, this one was one of the main slogans that inspired the days of the Stonewall Riots, it was the year 1969, imprinted in our memory and in our effort, almost 50 years away, the date of the 28th of June has an increasingly powerful meaning. The same meaning, the same instances, updated, that the Pompei Campania Pride (Pompei PRIDE) will take to the streets on the 30th of June 2018.
An event that has not only a regional significance, but both a national and international one.
The city of Pompei , in our toughts, takes a key role for the expression of our topics and claims, a city that hasn’t always shown the capability of really including the different and the diverse and that in too many occasions has shown its older side, conservative and excluding.
Precisely because our journey starts from faraway, from the history of those who have fought as a liberational movement, the 30th of June we will start from here, because there’s a history of Pompei, of these lands of Italy, of a south with a desire for redemption and modernity, that too often hasn’t had a narrating voice, of a city known in the whole world, but enslaved by its limits and prejudices. The same history that the LGBT* (Lesbian, Gay, Bisex, Trans*) community will tell on the streets of this city, against those who want to make clandestine the free expression of others, against omotransphobic and gender abuses, against exclusion, hypocrisy, false moralism and bigotry.
In the Pompei Pride lies the European dream, the ambition of building an Europe of people and of rights that can restart from its territories, that knows how to give a voice to their citiziens, to their instances and their needs, a generous and accomodating Europe, an Europe without walls but with only bridges, that knows how to protect and spread a culture of peace and how to extend the fundamental and unalienable righs of Man.
For these reasons, the “Campania Rainbow” coordination, the Arcigay vesuvian LGBT observatory “Vesuvio Rainbow” and all the associations, corporates, agencies and adhering movements have chosen as the central topic of the Pompei Pride, the defence of the state and the democratic institutions’ secularism.
SECULARISM
The Pompei Pride finds its development in the cultural dimension of secularism and, through this constitutional right, it claims the capacity of self-determination for people beyond any ideological conditioning taking ground on the principles of freedom, equality, brotherhood and respect, focusing on the positive power of the freely expressed human pecularities.
A liberal principle that arises through individual choices and takes us away from an imposing subjectivity that defines conformism, that binds us and confines us in an impoverished pluralism of authenticity that wants to grant and protect ideals and also necessary cultural connections. So, it defines the public democratic ground in which we distinctively think,work and walk.
In this value of authenticity, the body becomes intimate expression and revolutionary for the self-determination of the individual. Beyond any idelogical scheming, realising the centrality of the body means freeing it from capitalist commodification and from the mortification of preconceived conceptual schemes and , in its exhibition, enforcing the deconstruction of sexual phobical, misogynist and sexist thoughts as well as making it an antidote to patriarchy, to machist culture and omotransphobia.
New politics as a cure for the repression
The elections on the 4th March were historically important for our nation. People mostly looked at the prior (previous) period, than at the elections itself. The recent electoral campaign brought back old topics, as racism, homophobia and transphobia. Moreover, it endorsed the return of Fascism, taking it as a problem-solving approach. All started before this event, for sure the repressive laws issued by the last Government didn’t help our nation.
The repression of the administrative order so called Minniti-Orlando will be the main point of our critique because we think that it has been the starting point that has caused the deterioration of our nation and its democratic system. Furthermore the racism episode happened in Macerata, the daily homophobic and transphobic aggressions happened in every corner of Italy and, last but not the list, the different acts of intimidation against the “Pompei Campania Pride” made by different political parties, explicitly fascist-inclined, interested in the defense of traditional family, are all examples of the deterioration of our society. Accordingly to this it can be observed that the secularism is repressed and restricted by all the organizations who sought to claim the ancient and traditional values.
For the first time a city like Pompei will be the scenery of a so important event, in which a lot of topics will be discussed. For this reason the contribution of all local organizations can give much more value to this document; they, perhaps, have never felt so alive, because they have never been involved in a so big, participated and supportive project. The local point of view will be expressed by Forum dei Giovani Pompei, whose ideals are based on the constitutional Italian principles, the European ones and their founding statues.
The main topics debated by Forum dei Giovani Pompei are: the politic seen as the urban environment development, the young people’s participation, the equality, the fight against violence, the discrimination and the equal access to culture and rights. For this reason in the period before the Pompei Campania Pride the Forum has decided to talk about gender discrimination and violence against women in order to highlight its ideals in the area of youth policy.
Forum dei Giovani Pompei is aware that we live in a so complex society in which it is difficult to find common ideals and purposes and in which not everyone is able to understand that aspects as difference and diversity are important features of our society, for these reason an event as Pompei Campania Pride is necessary for the growth of our city not only for the touristic and economic point of view but, more generally, for its cultural evolution.
A fight for democracy and social inclusion starting from the school
The fight for promoting differences and real equality between people has to start from the school. This is the main place where the “Unione degli Studenti Campania” operates not only as “Sindacato Studentesco” but also as guarantor of all students’ rights. Its fight it’s not also about glbt rights but, more generally a fight for the democracy, to promote a real inclusion of all people, starting from the cancellation of all gender prejudices. For this reason, we can’t be content only about the recognition of our right to marry, but we have to fight for a general freedom. Freedom to be who you are, to love who you want.
We are sure that the Pride and all the events that will accompany this city to the final pride parade, are very important for the fights that have been fought for the freedom. The Pride has to be the occasion to denounce all kinds of inequalities. It is necessary to act all together to promote a new identity for the inclusion and by doing so we will battle against the exploitation and the exclusion. Now we must fight all together against all kinds of Fascism whose ideas are based on religious fundamentalism and patriarchy.
In our era characterized by different kinds of conflicts, we have to find the reason which combines all these fights and we must unite against the common problem. This fight will be possible only if we face all together the contemporary social problem. We must claim our freedom through cultural information and local actions. It’s in the school, in the squares and in the Pride where people can express their identity without being influenced by the others.
We think that it’s important to plan events with the aim to educate people, more specifically students, to be more aware view of sexuality. The fight against prejudices go through the battle against stereotypes and taboo concerning sexuality. We are sure that schools and universities are the places where it’s possible to build a more laical citizenship model. Moreover we also think that books are still full of prejudices linked to gender and sexuality. This peculiarity is so far from transmitting a more laical view of our society. We still live in a society that is still back in time. In this regard, it is important to observe that Italian school doesn’t have a sex education programme, essential to guarantee a safe and aware sexual culture, in which the respect of difference will be guaranteed.
Furthermore, the democracy and the freedom of expression can not be confused with the freedom to impart old and conservatives ideas against people’s dignity. The invented criminal theories about “Gender” can not be accepted. This has led delays to the development of modernity.
