More then 10 Italian lesbian groups and more then 100 lesbians*, together with numerous allies from the feminism and lgbt movements, have signed a document denouncing the lesbophobic murder of Elisa Pomarelli.
On 24 August 2019 Elisa Pomarelli was killed by Massimo Sebastiani because she was a lesbian and dared to refuse the advances of a man she believed to be her friend. She was punished because she claimed her right to self-determination, to express her identity and to freely choose her relationships. Elisa’s is a feminicide and a lesbicide.
Now, one year after his death, a trial begins in which justice, at best, will only be half done. The murderer has in fact requested and obtained the shortened ritual, and therefore, the discount of sentence which, in cases recognised as feminicides, is not granted. Even the aggravating circumstance of lesbian phobia has not been detected, in the absence, to date, of a specific law. Elisa’s murder cannot be recognised either as feminicide or as lesbicide, a hate crime of a lesophobic matrix, when it is both.
Elisa was not only killed in one way. In the days following her feminicide, the Italian media had speculated about a possible relationship between her and her killer, talking about “good giant”, “dangerous game”, “unrequited love”. Then, when her sexual orientation was made public, it was suddenly said that the victim’s personal life had to be protected, that she should not be presumed or labeled Elisa who was only 28 years old and could perhaps even change her mind. Journalistic ethics requires that sensitive data, including sexual orientation, should not be disclosed unless it is of fundamental importance in order to offer the public information.
These rules are hardly ever respected, just think of headlines such as “Gay Crime” or the constant references to the sex assigned to the birth of transgender people in the news where they have nothing to do with it, but only if it is lesbianism that has to be named. Many newspapers have chosen to erase Elisa’s identity, history and choices, invisibilizing her as a lesbian, and with her, all of us.
Like all subjectivities that subvert the patriarchal order by their very existence, we lesbians must not be named, or we try to take possession of our stories, misrepresenting them so that our identity is an irrelevant detail and the word lesbian is only used as an insult.
In the face of this tragedy it is important to ask ourselves how it could have happened.
Elisa Pomarelli’s lesbicide is also the result of structural lesbianism that permeates the whole of society.
Every day we hear stories of girls and women attacked in the streets because they exchange a kiss. We hear stories of girls, even very young ones, who are either removed from their families or forced to undergo reparative treatment because they are considered ill. We read about corrective rapes inflicted by fathers and relatives on lesbians. We know that migrant lesbians are asked to show their orientation when they apply for asylum. We know about the violence suffered by lesbians with disabilities, whose lives are systematically denied. We no longer count bullying in schools, dismissals, bullying and sexual harassment in professional contexts.
Lesbian-phobic violence afflicts lesbians daily in all areas of life and can lead, as in the case of Elisa Pomarelli, to the worst tragedy, murder.
This violence is no longer tolerable and we strongly denounce it, because silence and invisibility do not protect us, but our oppressors.
We lesbians all feel involved in this painful affair and recognise its sexist and lesbian-phobic matrix. We are aware that crimes such as this one are the most heinous expression of systemic violence, which affects women and lesbians every day, who are not guaranteed adequate protection.
In this context, it is more urgent than ever to pass a law that recognises an aggravating circumstance for cases of violence against lesbians and women, such as the one that is being discussed in Parliament in recent months.
We believe that this law, if passed in its integral form, represents a significant step forward, while remaining aware that legislative action alone is by no means sufficient to combat homolesbobransphobic hate crimes, which must be fought by making a radical change in culture and society.
Each of us could have been Elisa. This is why we lesbians all see each other again in her story: we recognise the misogyny and lesbianism that moved the killer’s hand and that we live on our skin every day.
Elisa’s story could have been any one of us.
So that it never happens again, we demand to live in a country where it is possible for lesbians and women to remain free to decide their own lives, reject unwanted relationships, move beyond geographical, architectural and cultural barriers without running the risk of being attacked or killed for it.
ALFI – Associazione Lesbica Femminista Italiana
EL*C – Eurocentralasian Lesbian* Community
Lesbiche Bologna
Lesbicx
Rete Donne Transfemminista di Arcigay
Alfi Le Maree Napoli
Alfi LesbicheXXBergamo
Alfi Lune – Lesbiche del nord est
Associazione Luki Massa
Campo lesbico di Agape
Collettiva Lesbica Occhipazzi Firenze
Gruppo donne “Marielle Franco” – Arcigay Catania
Albalisa Sampieri
Alberta Raccis
Adele Medaglia
Alice Chiaruttini
Alice Coffin
Alice Redaelli
Alida Fassiola
Andrea Ayala
Angela Cardeti
Angela Gerardi
Angelica Polmonari
Anita Lombardi
Anita Sterna
Anna Cerea
Anna Maria Alberini
Anna Salvemini
Anna Agnelli
Anna Crugnola
Annalisa Messina
Antonella De Luce
Antonella Parrocchetti
Antonia Caruso
Arianna L’avanti
Camilla Calzone
Charlie Baldon
Chiara Sfregola
Corine Giangregorio
Cristina Betti
Cristina Rubegni
Cristina Sereno
Cristina Urgnani
Cristina Sereno
Daniela Malagoli
Daniela Starà
Daniela Tomasino
Dora Colombo
Elisa Coco
Elisa Fraulini
Elisa Manici
Elisa Restivo
Elisa Santarelli
Elisabetta Sollazzi
Emanuela Perini
Emanuela Bogatai
Enrica Biselli
Erica Sereno
Eris Ferrari
Eva Croce
Evien Tjabbes
Fabiana Di Mattia
Fatime Bajraktari
Federica Meloni
Fiamma Becchi
Fiorenza Rasotto
Flavia Ghiberti
Franca Morelli
Francesca Lazzaretti
Gaia Ciccarelli
Gaia Di Salvo
Gaia Ronzoni
Giada Bonu
Giada Coccia
Gina Verna
Giorgia Patrizio
Giovanna Bianchi
Giovanna Vingelli
Giulia Balzano
Giulia Mori
Giuliana De Angelis
Giusy Vanetti
Greta Sartarelli
Gulzada Serzhan
Helena Vukovic
Ilaria Todde
Ilaria Ulgharaita
Ilenia Pennini
Irene Boschetti
Iucideddu
Joelle Sambi Nzeba
Lara Vodani
Laura Bortolotti
Laura Pesce
Laura Polloni
Laura Cepozio
Laura Magni
Lavinia Durantini
Leila Lohman
Lorenza Tizzi
Lucia Leonardi
Lucia Zanella
Lucia Zisa
Luisa Rizzitelli
Luisa Troncia
Marame Kane
Maria Albanese
Maria Castronovo
Maria Cristina Mochi
Maria Laricchia
Maria Sozzi
Mariadele Santarone
Marialuisa Favitta
Marilena Grassadonia
Martina Cappai
Martina Loatelli
Martina Tescari
Maruscka Faralli
Mattea Messere
Michela Calabrò
Michela Pascali
Michela Poser
Moju Manuli
Monica Bossi
Morena Giovanardi
Natascia Maesi
Natia Gvianishvili
Piera Forlenza
Roberta Barbagli
Roberta Barbagli
Roberta Grella
Roberta Malvermi
Roberta Milano
Rosa Perrucci
Rossella Pironio
Sabrina Russo
Sabrina Tripodi
Sara Bertolino
Sara Romano
Sara Vanni
Serena Graneri
Silvana Magni
Silvanna Agnelli
Silvia Casalino
Silvia D’ambrosio
Silvia Pastore
Silvia Sottili
Sofia Logli
Stefania Bufalini
Stefania Tesi
Susanna Vanoni
Sylvia Sestini
Tania Guiducci
Tiffany Andreutti
Tiziana Gatto
Tosca Cellini
Valentina Bianchini
Valentina Camporeale
Valentina Corti
Valentina Darpetti
Valentina Delfino
Valentina Gaggi
Valentina Quattrocchi
Valentina Tripepi Margiotta
Valeria Nicoli
Vanda Visconti
Vera Navarria
Veronica Vasarri
Veronica Vernettilli
Vittoria Nicoli
Vlada Thor
Zhanar Sekerbayeva
Atelier Vantaggio Donna
Casa delle donne per non subire violenza – Bologna
GenPol – Gender & Policy Insights
Libera…mente donna ets
Non una di meno – Piacenza
Rebel Network
Voci Di Donne Biella
A Voce Alta Salerno
Agedo Nazionale
Apple Pie: l’amore merita LGBT+
Arcigay Nazionale
Arcigay Agorà Pesaro e Urbino
Arcigay Arezzo Chimera Arcobaleno
Arcigay Catania
Arcigay Cremona
Arcigay Cuneo GrandaQueer
Arcigay del Trentino
Arcigay EOS Cosenza
Arcigay Ferrara
Arcigay Genova
Arcigay I Due Mari Reggio Calabria
Arcigay Il Cassero Bologna
Arccigay Mantova La Salamandra
Arcigay Modena Matthew Shepard
Arcigay Palermo
Arcigay Pianeta Milk Verona
Arcigay Ravenna
Arcigay Salento
Arcigay Siena
Arcigay Strambopoli QueerTown Taranto
Arcigay Torino “Ottavio Mai”
Associazione Lgbt+ IL GROVIGLIO Biella
Associazione LogoSiena
Associazione Studentesca Universitaria Iris
Associazione Quore
Azione Gay e Lesbica Firenze
Bergamo pride
Centaurus Arcigay Alto Adige Südtirol
Cof
Cooperativa sociale Hara
Coordinamento Taranto Pride 2020
Famiglie Arcobaleno
Hermes Academy
IREOS comunità queer autogestita Firenze
Mixed Lgbti – Bari
Movimento Pansessuale
LeTali
Officineperegrine Teatro
Omphalos Lgbti
Polis Aperta
Alessandro Camposano
Alessandro Rizzi
Claudio Tosi
Dario Castellani
Dario Pavia
Federico Pontillo
Francesco Donini
Francesco Mauro
Francesco Musillo
Francesco Tinivella
Gianmarco Caniglia
Giuseppe Antonioli
Lorenzo De Preto
Luca Vida
Luigi Pignatelli
Pippi Todisco
Silvio Cilento
Tommaso Simaz
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