Italy's supreme court upheld
Thursday an order for two Italian ministries to compensate a
Sicilian man whose driving license was suspended 14 years ago on
the ground that he was a homosexual.
The Court of Cassation said the civil service had displayed
"right and proper homophobia" against Danilo Giuffrida, 27, and
confirmed a ruling by a Catania appeal court rejecting an appeal
by the defence and transport ministries against paying
compensation for sexual discrimination.
Giuffrida originally was awarded compensation of 100,000
euros but that was reduced to 20,000 euros by the appeal court
judge.
The supreme court Thursday said that 20,000 was too little
and ordered the case be adjourned so that a higher figure could
be calculated for consideration.
In 2001, Giuffrida told military doctors he was gay
during routine tests prior to military service.
The army sent a copy of the report to the local
department of motor vehicles which subsequently revoked
Giuffrida's license on medical grounds.
A local court later ordered the local motor vehicles
department to return Giuffrida's license, saying being gay
didn't affect driving skills since "it cannot be considered a
psychological illness".
"Sexual preference does not affect someone's capacity
to safely drive motor vehicles," it said.
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