L’accettazione sociale e le rivendicazioni del movimento LGBT in Italia: i processi socio-culturali intervenuti

The research question leading to the study and the exploration of the LGBT reality in Italy was: why is the exposure of the LGBT movements wider today and why do the claims they are mouthpiece of have been coming to light in the very last years, particularly in our country's public debate? As a result: what are the claims of the LGBT movements today? Are they different from the past ones? Has the social acceptance of homosexuality changed in the last years? If it has, what are the causes which have contributed to such a change? Some examinations in the LGBT reality occurred on many levels. A mixed methods methodology has been used to answer the research question. Secondary data coming from surveys carried out in Italy on very large and representative samples have been used. This data is particularly important to “measure” the changes in public opinion towards homosexuality through the last forty years. Secondly, some semi-structured interviews to privileged witnesses have been carried out to better understand the activists' point of view and to examine in depth some aspects which cannot emerge only from the data. Those interviews involved twenty-three privileged witnesses – Presidents; Administrators– from the main Italian LGBT associations who were asked to answer ten questions which represented the outline of the interview. After that, the affirmation of the individual rights and the contribution of Feminism have been analyzed along with how the liberalization of sexual mores and the changes within the family have influenced the issue. The different ways in time to refer to LGBT people have been considered too and the most common stereotypes towards homosexuality have been briefly examined.