Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blasted Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni over LGBTQ rights during the G7 summit.
“The leaders also exchanged views on the importance of protecting and defending human rights, including the rights of 2SLGBTQI+ people,” an official communication from Trudeau’s office said. “Prime Minister Meloni responded that her government is following court decisions and is not deviating from previous administrations.”
How many Two-Spirit Italians are there? https://t.co/ZzTJAjn09I pic.twitter.com/7n6hC3zi8Q
— Grayson Quay ⚓️ (@hemingquay) May 20, 2023
Canada’s use of the term “Two-Spirit” refers to Indigenous people in North America who believe they have both masculine and female body parts.
“Obviously, Canada is concerned about some of the (positions) that Italy is taking in terms of LGBT rights,” Trudeau told Meloni, according to CTV News. “But I look forward to talking with you about that.”
In 2023, Meloni’s government instructed city halls to stop automatically registering both parents in same-gendered couples but instead limit recognition of parental rights only to the child’s biological parent. LGBTQ activists held rallies to oppose the move calling it “homophobic.”
Italy legalized same-gendered couples in 2016, ignoring opposition from Catholic and conservative groups. Yet, the country fell short of providing the same-gendered civil unions with adoption rights, fearing it would encourage surrogate pregnancies, which remain illegal.
When asked about Trudeau’s remarks, Meloni said he had fallen “victim” to “fake news” and misinformation, adding that his assessment “doesn’t correspond to reality.”
According to the National Post, Meloni, speaking in Italian, said Trudeau was a “bit rash” in his remarks, but that after they spoke, he probably understood that what gets written about her is not reality. She noted that she hasn’t changed any existing legislation regarding LGBTQ rights.
Meloni added that individuals who identify as a gender other than the one they were born with are “falling victim” to false ideologies. “Being a man or a woman is rooted in who we are, and can’t be changed,” she said in a March 2023 magazine interview.
The G7 summit was intended to include the leaders of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Japan, Italy, France, and Germany to discuss threats from Russia and China.
Reuters reported that Meloni’s coalition won 43% of the vote in Italy’s 2022 election. Before her election, she gave several speeches criticizing what she called a reduction in family values and opposed abortion and “gender ideology.”
