We present our new partner, the’Soka Gakkai Italian Buddhist Institute, which supports the Gay Help Line and Refuge LGBT+ projects through the “Welcome for LGBT+” project.
On the International Day Against Homolesbobitransphobia, the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai has made an interesting interview listening to the voices of the Coordinator of the Gay Help Line Alessandra Rossi, and that of Marina Marini, Head of LGBT+ Refuge.
Through these words, we retrace both our daily commitment to people and the importance of a partner whose support helps us advance our mission.
On May 17, 1990, the word "homosexuality" was removed from the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of mental disorders, and for this reason, it was designated as the World Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia. What is the current situation in Italy, and what are the most important aspects to focus on in the fight against homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia?
Through the Gay Center, we hear so many stories every day, and it's as if we have a barometer of everything that's happening in society on this issue.
May 17th is a significant date because it has been recognized that the clinical dimension cannot be compared to a non-heterosexual orientation.
Within society, there is still a strong pressure based on stereotypes and prejudices that influence relationships and our way of thinking. In fact, not being "expected" and having to face the obstacle of coming out which often triggers a rejection reaction, has a 360-degree impact on the individual. Defining one's sexual identity isn't something secondary.
Not being able to do so means not fully recognizing oneself within society as a person who represents a valid and shared system, at work, in family relationships, or in the public social dimension.
It also impacts the dimension of language, because the very words with which we are greeted in every context tend to be exclusionary. And starting precisely with language, each of us can always do something to combat homophobia.
Fighting homophobia requires raising awareness among an ever-increasing number of people. What is your mission as a Gay Center/Gay Help Line?
The Gay Center is a safe place to learn to express yourself as an LGBT+ person and value your own narrative, where you can find someone who recognizes your needs and can provide support in social spaces.
For example, if at the time of coming out There's a situation of rejection, and it's precisely within this context that it's important to work. Our mission is to raise awareness among everyone, because it's not true that if we're not LGBT+, certain issues don't concern us: they concern everyone.
Our mission It means working on an egalitarian dimension, since the important thing is that we are all equal in expressing our differences, in being able to claim them and live them.
At the Gay Center, we support LGBT+ people by intercepting their requests for help and trying to respond with support in various areas: legal, counseling, identity and gender health, gender medicine, women's health, etc.
LGBT Refuge It is the first shelter for young LGBT+ victims of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia within the family, who have experienced violence and have been abandoned by their families. It offers shelter, psychological and legal support, and helps young people establish independence. How and why did the project begin?
Discrimination experienced within the family, the primary place of welcome, is obviously the most traumatic. In some cases, boys or girls are removed from their homes or forced to leave.
Refuge It is a shelter intended as a place of welcome, protection, and safety, where we offer services to young men and women aged 16 to 26 who have experienced discrimination or violence, whether psychological or physical, within their families. Family mediation is conducted to reconnect with family ties and rebuild trust. For this reason, ongoing support is essential to truly forge a family bond, or at least avoid breaking it completely.
The family remains a safe place to which all people long to return. Refuge It does not present itself as an alternative to the family but supports the recovery of family relationships through the practice of family mediation.
When we meet with parents, the first thing that emerges is the fear that stems from their imagination, from their projection of their son or daughter. We provide scientifically sound information because very often, parents are seeking confirmation of what they already fear.
We support them in deconstructing this frightening imagery about what the future of their sons or daughters will hold, to help them embark on a path that leads them to believe a happy future is possible for them.
What we do is contain fear and transform it into a positive possibility of being.
Gay Help Line It's the national contact center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. In addition to handling cases of discrimination, violence, and bullying, it serves as a listening point for those experiencing difficulties. The Ministry of Equal Opportunities cited Gay Help Line in its "White Paper on Services" as a point of reference for the Italian LGBT+ community. What does this service consist of?
The Gay Helpline is open Monday through Saturday from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM. We're here every day to provide a telephone line and chat service to allow people to share things they wouldn't say elsewhere. Listening is the added value of the service.
From their stories, we learn that there is much that remains unseen and deserves to be visible, reconstructed, and supported in its representation in every context. Our country lacks a law against homophobia and transphobia, and this somehow blunts our weapons. Every time someone is attacked because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, there is no specific protection; their right to be defended as a homosexual or transgender person is not recognized. And this is a wound we inevitably carry within us.
We work on the social as well as legal dimensions. Being marginalized means not having the same opportunities as others in terms of professional, personal, and interpersonal relationships. We counter this discrimination, for example, when we work to secure fictitious residency with the help of local authorities, because perhaps they aren't safe in their own homes.
In relation to services, how does the contribution of the 8×1000 funds from the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai fit in and how important is it?
Inside the family home Refuge We provide people with a range of basic and secondary goods, which come at a cost. Sometimes young men and women, forced to quickly leave their homes, come to us without glasses or braces.
School bags, phones, and computers need to be rebuilt... obviously, often lowering the standards many are accustomed to. Public and state financial support arrives months later.
Some people are sent away from home at 14 and risk falling into bad circles, ending up in foster homes that aren't suitable for them and so they run away from one home to another, no longer go to school and when they reach 18 they end up on the streets.
Until now, we have mostly welcomed adult boys and girls into the family home, but now we are starting to welcome minors as well. This is a sign of great change in the times, because twenty years ago, minors would never have been entrusted to us.
Obviously, the contribution of the Soka Gakkai is not only important, but very important because it allows us to do everything we have talked about, and many other things.
Ours is an association of people for people, and what we do stems first and foremost from our desire to support them in their daily lives, because not everything out there is so easy.
It's already difficult in general, and even more so for those who have to assert their gender identity or sexual orientation, because, as we know, discrimination compounds.
We believe that diversity is a strength, and we are committed to spreading this belief among people in order to create an inclusive society.