Identity, work and protections: how LGBTQ+ associations are changing society

Agedo Nazionale
“We are a group of parents who discovered pride through the coming out of our daughters and sons: a moment of difficulty for a father or a mother, which cannot be faced with the strength of love alone. It is necessary to take a step forward towards a welcoming and conscious form of parenthood, capable of going beyond the normal expectations of a parent. If you manage to take this step, you arrive at that sense of pride that is important to convey to our sons and daughters because they do not need to feel only loved, but to understand that we respect them and are proud of them.” Anna Maria Fisichella is vice president of Agedo Nazionale, an association of parents of LGBTQ+ people, officially founded in Milan in 2015 but with a history dating back to the 1990s. Its main activities include listening services run by volunteers and self-help groups spread across its 38 locations in Italy. “Today, the age at which people come out has dropped considerably, and in eight cases out of ten, it is parents of transgender people who turn to us,” Fisichella continues. “These are young people dealing with long, complex and often financially demanding gender affirmation processes, which require greater support and attention from us.” Finally, important work is carried out within companies through training programmes on living together with differences, as well as in schools, including through the monitoring of educational institutions — now more than 530 — that provide for the alias career: a bureaucratic profile that allows transgender people to use their chosen name even before the official amendment of their personal records.

EDGE Association
“Pride is the driving force that inspired the creation of EDGE. It is the idea of asserting each of our gender identities and sexual orientations not only as a defensive mechanism, but as a proposal for active citizenship. The association’s purpose is not only to protect LGBT QIA+ people from every form of discrimination, but also to affirm sexual orientation as an important part of our identity as people and professionals.” With these words, Lucia Urciuoli, president of EDGE, describes the spirit of the association founded 14 years ago and now part of the European Pride Business Network, a network of 28 organisations active in 24 European countries. EDGE engages with local administrations, carries out advocacy activities at national level and works with European lawmakers so that EU directives on employment take DEI principles into account. This work goes hand in hand with scientific research: among its most recent studies are an investigation into the relationship between artificial intelligence and discrimination and a survey on microaggressions in the workplace conducted at European level. Among the achievements of which the association is most proud is Constitutional Court judgment no. 68 of 2025, which recognised both mothers in a same-sex parent family the right to have their children recognised at birth, without resorting to stepchild adoption. “A sensational judgment that changed history and to which we feel we contributed,” Urciuoli comments. “A year earlier, EDGE had supported the #AffermazioneCostituzionale campaign promoted by Rete Lenford following the challenge to 56 birth certificates transcribed by the Municipality of Padua, also contributing to fundraising for legal expenses.”

Parks – Liberi e Uguali
“The thing that makes us most proud, as an association, is having built a network of more than 120 companies, from small businesses to large groups, which, thanks to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion journey we pursue together, has a concrete impact on people’s lives. People are often able to open up during the meetings we organise within companies because they perceive that environment as a safe space where they can come out and share their experience.” Selene Gagliardi, assistant event manager at Parks – Liberi e Uguali, describes the strength of networking. The association was founded in 2010 to help companies and employers create open working environments capable of valuing diversity, with a specific focus on LGBT Q+ people. “The most beautiful thing is that companies that see themselves as competitors in the market become allies within our network,” Gagliardi emphasises. In particular, Parks conducts workplace climate surveys to measure how much employees perceive the company as truly inclusive and organises monthly training sessions to raise awareness and combat prejudice concerning gender identity and sexual orientation. “But we also offer companies support in drafting corporate policies capable of filling the regulatory gaps that still exist in our legal system, such as the absence of an aggravating circumstance for homophobic crimes or the lack of recognition of same-sex parent families,” Gagliardi concludes. An example? “Programmes enabling transgender people to use their chosen name before the court has issued its ruling.”

Arcigay Italian LGBTI Association
“Ours is a historic organisation, but it is still very active. At European level, we represent the most structured network for protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and in Italy we are present in more than 70 cities. We are proud to be everywhere, even in the smallest municipalities, where even today it can happen that a father takes his child’s life because they are an LGBTQ+ person.” Christian Leonardo Cristalli, Arcigay’s national coordinator for the rights of transgender people, needs few words to describe the commitment of an association that has set an example and that today, in addition to awareness-raising activities, manages services and provides concrete assistance. “Many Arcigay committees provide legal and psychological advice, as well as support with employment placement and problems related to the housing emergency,” he explains. “We help people who have been thrown out of their homes or those who are forced to flee their country of origin, where their lives are at risk.” Among the initiatives carried out by Arcigay is Casa Salani in Bologna. “It is named after Lucy Salani, a trans woman who survived the Dachau concentration camp and died in 2023 at the age of 99,” Cristalli continues, having coordinated the facility on a voluntary basis for the past three years. “Here, Arcigay welcomes transgender and LGBTQ+ people fleeing violence and discrimination, who are often excluded from traditional shelters.” On the trans front, the association also has 35 local groups and has launched the “Ask Me If I’m Happy” campaign, dedicated to younger transgender people. “This is a fundamental commitment at a time of clear backsliding in the field of LGBTQ+ rights in Italy and elsewhere,” the activist concludes. “But we are proud of who we are, and we will not let ourselves be pushed back into the shadows.”