Lombardy council rejects participation in Milan Pride

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 6 - The Lombardy regional council on Tuesday rejected a motion to delegate a member to participate as its formal representative in the Milan Pride 2023 event on June 24.
    The centre-right council rejected the motion with 43 votes against and 23 in favour.
    The office of the presidency of the council denied sponsorship to the event on May 9.
    The development comes against the backdrop of a row between the Lazio regional government and the organisers of Rome Pride 2023 over alleged manipulation of the agenda for Saturday's event to lobby in favour of surrogacy.
    Lazio Governor Francesco Rocca on Monday withdrew the region's sponsorship of the popular event, accusing organizers of "instrumentalising" it to promote what is a crime in Italy and the right calls "wombs for rent".
    However, he later said Lazio's sponsorship would be reinstated on condition that the organizers apologised.
    "Clearly there will be no apology for Rocca's claims by Roma Pride. No one manipulated anyone," Mario Colamarino, president of the Mario Mieli gay association and spokesperson for Roma Pride, told ANSA.
    He added that Roma Pride's platform, including its favourable stance on surrogacy, which is used by many Italian same-sex couples outside Italy, has been known for years.
    Premier Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, of which Rocca is a member, wants to make surrogacy a 'universal crime', meaning Italians resorting to it abroad will be prosecuted in Italy. (ANSA).