New legislation passed by Italy’s lower house of parliament pushing back against “gender ideology and the woke bubble” is generating a meltdown on the left, the Guardian reported on Thursday.
The bill, which the Guardian described as “restrictive,” allows sex education in middle schools for children aged 11-14 only with parental consent, and is backed by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The legislation, reportedly given the nickname of “Valditara bill” after Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, passed on the Italian lower house this week with 151 in favor, 113 against, and one abstention, and must now pass to the Senate before it becomes law.
Rai News explained consent must be given in written form. If no consent is given, the legislation establishes that educational institutions shall ensure, within its organizational authority, the provision of alternative education activities.
Valditara stressed the law does not stand in prejudice of “national guidelines provisions” and as such, the requirement for parental consent does not eliminate sex education, stressing that it is “important for a proper understanding of the body and its biological evolution, for protection against the risks of sexually transmitted diseases, and for conscious management of sexuality.”
The Minister added that the law on informed consent “aims rather to avoid confusing children by teaching so-called gender theories” such as that “there are other gender identities that are neither male or female.”
The Guardian noted Italian opposition parties calling for mandatory sex educations in schools protested outside parliament on Wednesday, condemning the bill as “regressive” and accusing it of allegedly preventing “sexual violence and femicide.”
Meloni’s ruling coalition, on the other hand, argued that sex education is a tool that promotes “gender ideology” and threatens traditional family values, with undersecretary for education Rossano Sasso asserting the bill intended to prevent “younger children from being taught theories that caused confusion while requiring parental consent for sex education to be taught to older children.”
“With this law, we are saying goodbye to gender ideology and the woke bubble,” Sasso told the lower house. “Political activists will no longer be allowed to engage in political propaganda in schools.”
Italian lawmaker Sasa Ferrari of the centre-left Democratic party said the bill put “obstacles in the way” of schools that wanted to implement a tool “for combating violence against women.”
Italy’s Il Post reported opposition parties argue that requiring parental consent would make “sex and relationship education programs in schools even less effective, which are already very lacking in Italy.”
“Sex and relationship education exists in most European countries, but in Italy it has never been officially included in school curricula and is still not widespread or structured: it often relies on the involvement of external experts to provide training,” Il Post wrote, noting that the bill also stipulates that in the future, involvement of external experts will also require the approval of the teaching staff and the school board.
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