ROME — Protesters turned out in force on Saturday for rival demonstrations on a bill that would make anti-L.G.B.T. violence a hate crime carrying harsher penalties than under current law, coming out by the hundreds in Rome despite a resurgence of coronavirus cases in the country.
Demonstrations were planned throughout the country ahead of a parliamentary vote planned for this coming week, with supporters framing the measure as a long-overdue means to provide basic human rights and protection from attack, and opponents depicting it as an overreaching step that would also suppress opinion and religious beliefs. “We have been through centuries of discrimination,” said Marlon Landolfo, 21, who recounted a vicious homophobic attack on him and.