Rome council approves civil-union register

(ANSA) - Rome, January 28 - The latest move in Italy's contentious gay marriage debate came on Wednesday as the Rome city council assembly approved the establishment of a special register for civil unions.
    The controversial move was backed by Mayor Ignazio Marino, his centre-left coalition and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S).
    Centre-right parties NCD, Forza Italia and FdI voted against.
    Marino, who has long favored the recognition of civil unions, was on hand for the vote that he called a "historic milestone". "This is not only an act of civility and respect of people, but it aligns us with the rest of the western world, in line with the principal European countries with whom we share our political and cultural history," Marino said.
    Some well-known LBGT activist-politicians were also witnesses to the event, including president of the Puglia region Nichi Vendola and transgender former MP Vladimir Luxuria.
    Marino, like other Italian mayors in Bologna, Udine, Trieste, Florence, and Reggio Emilia, had already transcribed gay marriages contracted abroad to Rome's registers, despite Interior Minister Angelino Alfano's declarations that mayors don't have the authority to do so, as Italian law doesn't recognize gay marriages.