VERONA, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — A Catholic teenager has been punished for refusing to honor his school’s LGBT “rainbow” staircase.
The Verona middle school’s staircase was decorated with rainbow colors last May to mark International Day Against Homophobia. This February 10, a 13-year-old student, who cannot be named, refused to climb the staircase, stating that he was “against the LGBT community’s agenda.” A teacher confronted the boy and forced him to climb it.
The boy’s father shared this account with journalist Andrea Zambrano from La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana.
“My son took the steps two at a time as a sign of his disapproval,” the father said.
“The teacher again reprimanded him and made him go back and start over. After a second attempt, and with the teacher insisting he climb the stairs properly, almost as if it were a ritual he had to undergo, he decided to climb the stairs by holding onto the handrail to avoid stepping on the painted steps.”
The following day, the boy received a disciplinary note. The principal of the school, summoning the boy, expressed “regret” for the student’s “homophobic attitude.” In a letter sent to the parents, the school wrote, “Parents can be welcome guests at the school to express their dissent civilly and democratically to the events that the institution will certainly organize for the next International Day Against Homophobia.”
The decorated staircase, which displays words like “trust,” “listening,” “respect,” “understanding,” “tolerance,” “altruism,” “loyalty,” “empathy,” and “welcome,” is topped by the sentiment “Love is love. Nothing else.” It was sponsored by the Italian Ministry of Education.
During the nationwide controversy sparked by the incident, the Regional School Office of Veneto stated, contradicting the father’s account, that “the disciplinary note has nothing to do with the boy’s statements, and therefore there is no reason for it to be canceled.”
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“The Veronese student climbed along the handrail of a rainbow-colored staircase,” the spokesperson for the office, Marco Bussetti, said. “The only reason for the note is the behavior of the student, who put his life in grave danger.”
The boy’s parents, Catholic professionals of non-EU origin, have written a complaint to Italian Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara.
“We are considering legal action because we believe some fundamental children’s rights have been violated, such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to express their opinion, and Article 21 of the Italian Constitution, which has been heavily denied here,” the boy’s father declared.
Article 21.1 of the Italian constitution states that “All shall have the right to express their thoughts freely by speech, in writing, and by all other means of communication.”
After receiving the parents’ report and a request for intervention from former Italian Minister Carlo Giovanardi, Valditara began an investigation into the incident. Some experts in school law have raised questions about the legitimacy of the disciplinary action and whether the family’s educational freedom has been violated.
The episode has become a matter of heated debate on social media and major national newspapers, pitting supporters of the school’s actions against those who believe they were a violation of the boy’s freedom of thought and expression.
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The incident will now be discussed in Italian parliament. Two majority deputies have requested inspections of the school. Alessandro Amorese, a deputy from Fratelli d’Italia, the ruling party, recently submitted a bill to regulate parental informed consent for extracurricular activities, such as pro-LGBT awareness initiatives, to ensure “parents have an active and informed role in the education of students on sexual, emotional, and ethical issues addressed within their school curriculum.”
“The lack of authorization or the denial of the right to participate in extracurricular activities should not negatively affect the student’s academic path,” Amorese stated.
The national discussion on teaching methods and students’ freedom of thought is expected to continue in the coming months.