The new Italian government has stopped new Equality Minister Josefa Idem from pushing forward a new law on same-sex civil unions.

The new Prime Minister Enrico Letta said: ‘This is not on the government’s agenda.’

Interviewed by the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Idem, who’s a former Olympic champion, said: ‘We don’t want class B citizens.

‘All citizens should have the same rights and the same duties. We have to start from civil unions, then we will able to speak about something else.’

In the interview, Idem did not mention the right to adotion or to full marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples.

But the government blocked the proposal.

A source from the government added: ‘Civil unions are not in our to-do list. The Italian president Giorgio Napolitano suggested [we should] avoid divisive issues.’

But interviewed by Radio Capital, the Equality Minister fought back, saying: ‘The right-wing parties agree with me.

‘Even former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi says the times have changed and that we should think about civil unions.’

LGBT activist, former Arcigay president and now member of parliament Sergio Lo Giudice said: ‘Now it’s the parliament’s turn.

‘All the gay-friendly politicians and all the LGBT associations should fight for gay and lesbian people’s rights.’