Premier Twiddles Thumbs as Trudeau Raises LGBTQ+ Rights

Italy's Meloni suggests Canadian leader was swayed by propaganda
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 20, 2023 2:50 PM CDT
Italy's Premier Answers Trudeau on LGBTQ+ Rights
From left, President of the European Council Charles Michel, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US President Joe Biden, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visit the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island in...   (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)

Italy's far-right Premier Giorgia Meloni on Sunday rejected criticism from her Canadian counterpart at the G7 Summit about her government's stance on LGBTQ+ rights. A reporter asked Meloni about the criticism at a news conference early Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan, which is hosting the annual summit of leaders from seven of the world's leading industrialized nations. On television Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau told Meloni—right before they began private, bilateral talks during the summit—that "Canada is concerned about some of the positions Italy is taking on in terms of LGBT rights." He added that he was looking forward to talking with the Italian premier about that, the AP reports.

Meloni looked annoyed, twiddled her thumbs, and listened in silence, while Trudeau switched to French to sum up his English remarks. Then camera operators left the room, and the two leaders commenced their closed-door talks. Earlier this year, Meloni's government told city halls to stop automatically registering both parents in same-sex couples and instead to limit recognition of parental lights only to the biological parent of the child. Gay rights activists held rallies to denounce the move, calling it homophobic. Asked about Trudeau's remark, Meloni said that he had fallen "victim" to "fake news" and propaganda, adding that his assessment "doesn't correspond to reality."

(More LGBTQ stories.)

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