ROME – In celebration of the Pride of Romebare-chested men with pink angel wings danced to Abba songs, women draped in rainbow flags kissed, and glittering drag queens waved from parade floats.
And then there was the Pope Francisco.
The image of the pontiff was everywhere.
On cardboard cutouts adorned with flower leis, on bright banners, on stickers.
Insult and banner
Romans attended the Pride parade on Saturday dressed as Francis, wearing papal hats and T-shirts that read:
“There is never too much frociaggine“, in reference to an offensive slur against gay men that the Pope has been accused of using twice in recent weeks.
The insult “is the motto of Pride 2024,” said Martina Lorina, 28, an actress holding a banner with the word.
After Italian media reported that Francis used the slur in a meeting with priests to complain that there was too much “homosexuality” in the church, the Vatican apologized.
But Rome Pride attendees took a different tack in responding to the insult: they made it their own.
Pride participants symbolically invited the Pope and his insult to the party, using an old community tactic LGBTQ+ to turn insults into words of pride.
“Let’s make him feel how beautiful homosexuality is,” shouted a participant in the crowd as men dressed as unicorns sang a song of Britney Spears and the children held their two mothers’ hands, their faces covered in bright rainbows.
Daniele Lacitignola, 34, Christian and gay, carried a cardboard cutout of Francis.
He said that although the pope’s recent choice of words could convey that “homosexuals are not welcome in the church, he is always welcome at Pride.”
“Francy.you are welcome to our parish,” said a banner.
“Let me pose with your holiness,” said Alessio Sposato, 31, wearing a tank top and cowboy hat, as he took a photo with a cardboard cutout of Francis.
Emiliano Sisolfi, the 22-year-old director, carried a banner with a photo of Francisco with a thumbs up and another use of the insult.
Sisolfi said he printed the insult in rainbow letters to neutralize it.
“If I laugh at the word,” he said, “they have no more words to offend us.”
Giacomo Canarezza, 31, said that even if the insult was derogatory, “if I appropriate the word, I can use it as a marker of my identity.”
“It makes you immune to any insult.”
March
Banners throughout the parade associated the insult with expressions of pride and joy.
One Pride attendee with a bright pink beard wore a papal hat as he danced to “Greased Lightnin’” atop a parade float, and others distributed stickers with doctored photographs of Francis wearing a furry pink scarf or sunglasses roses.
But behind the jokes and fanfare, some Romans have expressed concern that the pope’s words could further marginalize the LGBTQ+ community in a country that, along with Hungary, the Czech Republic and a handful of others, is among the only Europeans who have not legalized gay marriage.
Last year, the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ordered Italian mayors to obey a court ruling and stop certifying foreign birth certificates of children born abroad to Italian same-sex couples through surrogacy, which is illegal in Italy.
“Many in Italy listen to the Pope and the Church, and this can harm families who have homosexual children,” said Basilio Petruzza, 33.
A 20-year-old artist who calls herself Dolly Deville said she ordered a papal robe online a few days ago to wear to Pride.
He held a banner with a hand-drawn portrait of Francis and said the pope’s words had caused him pain.
“She shouldn’t have dared to say this word,” said her boyfriend, Edoardo Camillucci.
“Especially as a straight, holy man.”
c.2024 The New York Times Company
