Måneskin on Italy’s defeated LGBTQ hate crime bill: ‘Everyone needs to stand up’
The Eurovision winners told Attitude at the BRITs: "Everyone needs to stand up."
Words: Alastair James; Image: JMEnternational
The Italian rock band Måneskin has called on people to stand up for basic human rights when discussing an Italian piece of legislation that would have offered LGBTQ people greater protection from discrimination.
Italian lawmakers voted down a bill in October that would have meant hate crimes against LGBTQ people would be criminalised, as well as against women and minorities such as people with disabilities. It was defeated in the Italian parliament by 154 votes to 131.
Footage shared on social media at the time showed some of the country’s right-wing MPs celebrating the bill’s defeat.
“It’s basic human rights”
As they walked the red carpet at the BRIT Awards last night (Tuesday 8 February), members of Måneskin, who won the 2021 Eurovision song contest for Italy, spoke to Attitude about the defeated legislation.
The band’s bassist, Victoria De Angelis told us: “I think it’s important because it should be like that in every country. It’s basic human rights. So if there’s a lot of discrimination and violence I think that everyone needs to stand up and make people have knowledge and change the situation.”
Måneskin has previously taken a stance against the creation of ‘LGBT-free zones’ in Poland. During a concert last June, two male members of the band, Damiano David and Thomas Raggi, kissed on stage at the Polsat SuperHit Festival in Sopot, Poland.
In an accompanying statement to footage of the moment the band said: “Equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community 🏳️🌈. We think that everyone should be allowed to do this without any fear. We think that everyone should be completely free to be whoever the fuck they want.”
View this post on Instagram
The Attitude February issue is out now. Get your copy here.
