Naples prefect annuls 2-mum birth certificate

(ANSA) - Naples, November 5 - The Italian state's representative in Naples has partially annulled the birth certificate of a boy registered by the city's municipal authority as having two mothers as it does not conform to national law, her office said on Thursday.
    Italy still lacks a civil unions or gay marriage law, so births to same-sex married couples are not officially recognized.
    Left-leaning Naples Mayor Luigi De Magistris, who supports extending marriage rights to same-sex couples, had threatened to take legal action over an order he received from the prefect to cancel the transcription of the birth certificate.
    "I believe that the law should help the process of recognition of rights for those that lack them," De Magistris said. "We filled a gap and our conscience is clear," he said.
    Prefect Gerarda Pantalone had ordered De Magistris to correct "errors" in the birth certificate by Thursday otherwise she said she would do it herself.
    These included naming a woman in the "father" section, because legally only a man can be considered in this field. She said only the boy's biological mother should be named on the certificate.
    The mother is legally married in Spain to another woman.
    Last week, Italy's highest administrative court, the Council of State, annulled a lower court ruling that had approved the registration of gay unions contracted abroad.
    The ruling was a blow to gay rights campaigners tired of waiting for lawmakers to give same-sex couples some form of legal recognition in Italy.