Many Italian families refuse to discuss a child’s homosexuality

by Roberta Lunghini - 2016.11.01

For the majority of parents in Italy, the subject of homosexuality is still taboo. More than half of them, in fact, is still firmly convinced that the only acceptable family model is the traditional one and as many as 59% think that even approaching a discussion of the topic with their children is unthinkable: a possible end to the family’s domestic peace and possible impetus to separate the family. The term “gender” is still an unknown and feared term among Italian parents, who consider touching on the subject a source of anxiety. Even they admit that this is not the best family context for a healthy upbringing. Sticking their heads in the sand is useless, as demonstrated by the most recent data: about 1 million Italians have declared their homosexuality or bisexuality and another 2 million (added to the previous figure) have admitted experimentation or attraction to individuals of the same sex. The majority of these are young or very young, because the first signs of sexual orientation usually surface before the age of 18 in 80% of the cases. These are some of the data that were published in a survey by the National Observatory on the health of children and adolescents presented at the 3rd Forum of the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Società Italiana Medici Pediatri (SIMPe), that took place in Lago Maggore.



