Arcigay () is Italy's first and largest worldwide gay organisation. The association was first founded as a local association in Palermo in 1980, then nationally established in Bologna in 1985. The organisation became known throughout Italy for its campaign for civil unions. The current president of Arcigay is Natascia Maesi, the first woman leading Arcigay since its creation. The secretary is Gabriele Piazzoni. Franco Grillini, a historical figure and previous president of Arcigay, is now honorary president.
From its creation to the present, Arcigay has welcomed the birth of many subsidiary associations in Italy's various realities, and there are now several dozen territorial communities, often bounded by the territories of Italian provinces. Founder and president of the territorial committee of the Province of Imperia is the Italian mathematician Marco Antei.
Arcigay has often protested against the Vatican's opposition to homosexuality and LGBT rights.
History The creation of Arcigay The first nucleus of what later became Arcigay was formed in Palermo on 9 December 1980, as ARCI Gay, partly on the emotional wave of a demonstration organized in Giarre for a crime that had occurred about two months earlier. Two young men, Giorgio Agatino Giammona and Antonio Galatola, were killed on 17 October with a bullet each in the head for being gay. Although the crime remained officially unsolved, the culprit has been widely believed to be Antonio's 13-year-old nephew, either following order from other family members or forced by the two themselves in order to escape the "shame" that their condition as homosexuals procured.
After Palermo in many other cities in Italy, people started to reunite in small groups. Nonetheless, the national association to which everyone referred did not yet exist as an independent entity, but referred to the ARCI association which grouped together various Italian cultural entities and for the first time gave space to issues pertaining to the homosexual world. Among the first leaders of those movements, we need to mention Massimo Milani, Gino Campanella and Marco Bisceglia, the latter being a priest who was already an adherent of so-called liberation theology, a homosexual himself and a forerunner of gay marriage in Italy, having celebrated in 1975 a so-called "union of conscience" religious union between two men. This caused the priest a suspension from his Catholic Church.
In 1982, again in Palermo, a national meeting of ARCI Gay was held, considered the association's first congress in that it was attended by the national leadership of the ARCI; two years later ARCI Gay posed the problem of institutionalizing and stabilizing its presence throughout the country, which led to the first constituent summit held in late 1984.
Organisation Arcigay is divided into several subsidiary associations scattered throughout Italy. Here we present the list updated to 2022:
Ancona - Arcigay Comunitas Ancona - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Aosta - Arcigay Valle d'Aosta Queer VdA - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Arezzo - Arcigay Arezzo "Chimera Arcobaleno" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Asti - Love is Love - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Avellino - Avellino - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Bari - Arcigay Bari "L'arcobaleno del Levante" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Barletta-Andria-Trani - Arcigay Bat "Le Mine Vaganti" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Bergamo - Arcigay Bergamo "Cives" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Bologna - Cassero LGBT Center - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Bolzano - Centaurus Arcigay dell'Alto Adige Südtirol - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Brescia - Arcigay Orlando Brescia APS - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Campania - Arcigay Campania - Coordinamento Regionale Arcigay Caserta - Rain Arcigay Caserta - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Castelli Romani - Castelli Romani - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Catania - Arcigay Pegaso Catania - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Chieti - Arcigay Chieti - Sylvia Rivera - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Como - Arcigay Como - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Cosenza - Arcigay EOS Cosenza - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Cremona - Arcigay Cremona "La Rocca" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Cuneo - Arcigay "Granda Queer" Cuneo - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Ferrara - Arcigay Ferrara - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Florence - Arcigay Firenze Altre Sponde - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Foggia - Arcigay Foggia "Le Bigotte" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Frosinone - Frosinone - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Genova - Arcigay Genova - Approdo Lilia Mulas A.P.S. - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Imperia - M.I.A. Arcigay Imperia. Comitato territoriale Arcigay L'Aquila - Arcigay "Massimo Consoli" L'Aquila - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Latina - SEIcomeSEI - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Le fate ignoranti - Le fate ignoranti - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Lecce - Arcigay Salento - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Livorno - L.E.D. Libertà e Diritti - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Mantova - Arcigay "La Salamandra" Mantova - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Messina - Arcigay "Makwan" Messina - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Milan - Centro d’Iniziativa Gay - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Modena - Arcigay Modena "Matthew Shepard" (ODV) - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Molise - Arcigay Molise "Lambda Identità Libere" - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Naples - Arcigay "Antinoo" Napoli - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Padova - Arcigay Tralaltro Padova - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Palermo - Arcigay Palermo - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Pavia - Coming-Aut LGBTI+ Community Center - Arcigay Pavia - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Pesaro Urbino - Arcigay Agorà - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Pescara - Mazì - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Piacenza - Arcigay Piacenza Lambda - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Pisa - Pinkriot Arcigay Pisa - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Potenza - Arcigay Basilicata "Marco Bisceglia" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Prato Pistoia - Arcigay Prato Pistoia l'Asterisco - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Ragusa - Arcigay Ragusa - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Ravenna - Arcigay Ravenna Elio Venturi - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Reggio Calabria - Arcigay IDM "I Due Mari", Reggio Calabria - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Reggio Emilia - Arcigay Reggio Emilia "Gioconda" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Rieti - Rieti LGBT+ - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Rimini - Arcigay Rimini "Alan Turing" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Rome - Arcigay Roma Gruppo Ora - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Roma - Divine Ostia - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Rovigo - Arcigay Rovigo "Politropia" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Salerno - Arcigay "Marcella di Folco" Salerno - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Savona - Arcigay Savona "APERTAMENTE" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Siena - Movimento Pansessuale APS - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Siracusa - Arcigay Siracusa - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Taranto - Stambopoli - Comitato Territoriale Arcigay Teramo - Arcigay Teramo - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Turin - Arcigay Torino "Ottavio Mai" - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Torino - Casa Arcobaleno Torino - Associazione Aderente Arcigay Trento - Arcigay del Trentino - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Trieste - Arcigay Arcobaleno ODV Trieste Gorizia - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Udine - Arcigay Friuli ODV - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Varese - Arcigay Varese - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Verbania - Arcigay Nuovi Colori ONLUS - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Vercelli - Arcigay Rainbow Vercelli - Valsesia - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Verona - Pianeta Milk - Verona Lgbt* Center - Arcigay/Arci - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Vicenza - Arcigay Vicenza APS - Comitato territoriale Arcigay Viterbo - Viterbo - Associazione Aderente Arcigay
See also
LGBT rights in Italy List of LGBT rights organisations
References
External links