Lazio region pulls sponsorship of Roma Pride 2023

(ANSA) - ROME, JUN 5 - The Lazio regional government said Monday that it has pulled its sponsorship of the Roma Pride 2023 event while reiterating its "commitment to civil rights".
    The executive of centre-right Governor Francesco Rocca said the region's name could not be associated with "events aimed at promoting illegal conduct, with specific reference to surrogacy".
    Surrogacy, which is illegal in Italy, has become a hot topic under the right-ring government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy (FdI) party presented the bill that would prosecute Italians who resort to using surrogate mothers in countries like Spain and the US where it is legal, making it a "universal crime".
    Many gay couples in Italy have had children via surrogacy.
    In March the government drew criticism from the opposition and rights activists after it instructed city mayors to stop registering both members of a same-sex couple as the parents of a child via a procedure based on the transcription into Italian civic registers of the foreign birth certificates of children conceived via surrogacy or assisted fertility, which is only available to heterosexual couples in Italy, citing a ruling by the Court of Cassation, Italy's highest court.
    This has led to concern that same-sex parent families will face multiple practical and legal problems, with only the member of the couple who is the biological parent of the child registered as its legal parent. (ANSA).