The Italian Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the parliament, has elected pro-life, pro-traditional marriage populist League politician Lorenzo Fontana as speaker, leading to protests and criticism from leftist groups.
Fontana, a former government minister during the League’s coalition government with the Five Star Movement (M5S) in 2018 and 2019, was elected as speaker of the Chamber of Deputies on Friday and his conservative views have led to protests in part so the country.
According to a report from the broadcaster RAI, Fontana is “considered ultraconservative and traditionalist,” and speaks openly about his Roman Catholic faith, his pro-life beliefs and his views against same-sex marriage.
In an interview in 2020, Fontana stated that he wanted to promote “the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman,” and added that “the family is the main entity that we must try to favour in every way, also through a certain vision of the economy and society as a whole.”
The election of Fontana has led to protests and criticism from various groups, such as the LGBTQ+ rights group Arcigay, which claimed Fontana supported, “ultra-conservative, homophobic (and) misogynist movements.”
In Naples, a group of protestors dressed up like characters from the Handmaid’s Tale television series, took to the streets to protest the election of Fontana and Ignazio Le Russa, a member of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy elected to speak of the Italian Senate.
“Fontana, openly homophobic, anti-abortion and pro-Putin, has repeatedly attacked the LGBTQ+ community, while La Russa, whose past does not need particular descriptions, given his militant experience in parties such as the MSI,” the protestors said.
Le Russa, one of the co-founders of the Brothers of Italy, was previously involved in the Italian Social Movement’s (MSI) youth wing during the 1970s and remained a part of the movement, which was founded by supporters of former Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini, until it merged with conservative parties in 1995.
Brother of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni is expected to become Italy’s first Prime Minister by the end of this month following her party’s election win in September. However, Meloni has yet to fully select her cabinet and negotiations between her party, Matteo Salvini’s League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia remain ongoing.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.