Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro, the head
of Italy's association of local authorities (ANCI), said Friday
that he was set to disobey central government of the issue of
recording same-sex-parent children in the civic register.
Milan was recently forced to stop a procedure it had used to
register both members of a same-sex couple as the parents of a
child after the prefect's department warned it was illegal
following consultations with the interior ministry.
The procedure was based on the transcription into the Milan
civil register of foreign birth certificates of children
conceived by surrogacy, which is illegal in Italy, or assisted
fertility, which is only allowed for heterosexual couples here.
"The issue of transcriptions is an issue of children's rights,"
Decaro told Rai television.
"I have always carried out these transcriptions because I am not
interested in where the child was born or how.
"If they live in my city, I am interested in how that child
lives, they must have the same rights as other children.
"So the transcription of (the birth certificates of)
same-sex-parents' children allows the child to have the same
rights.
"I believe it is a question of rights and rights must be ensured
for everyone.
"There cannot be first and second tier children in the
municipalities.
"If it is necessary to disobey, we will and we'll proceed with
the transcriptions".
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