ITALY: Tens Of Thousands Protest Meeting Of Brian Brown’s Anti-LGBT World Congress Of Families [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports:

An estimated 20,000 people have protested in Verona against a conference which has brought a global network of anti-gay, anti-abortion and anti-feminist activists to the northern Italian city.

The hosting of the World Congress of Families (WCF), a US coalition that promotes the values of the Christian right, has been especially contentious in Italy as it is supported by the far-right League, a partner in the country’s coalition government. Matteo Salvini, the party’s leader and Italy’s deputy prime minister, spoke at the event on Saturday evening.

Other speakers have included Brian Brown, the WCF president, who fought against same-sex marriage in the US; Theresa Okafor, a Nigerian activist who likened gay people to the Boko Haram terrorist group; and Lucy Akello, a Ugandan politician who helped pass an anti-gay law that sets life imprisonment as the maximum penalty for homosexuality in Uganda.

Yahoo News reports:



A colourful procession of feminists and LGBT activists from several European countries marched through the city centre to state their opposition to the ultra-conservative policies of the movement.

Activists came from as far afield as Britain, Croatia, Germany, Poland and Switzerland to protest. Many sang “Bella Ciao”, an anthem of the Italian resistance during WWII, and banners carried slogans including “Our bodies and our desires, it’s we who decide”.

Local newspapers estimated the turn-out to be between 20,000 and 30,000 people. Organisers put the figure nearer 100,000. Founded in 1997 by the American Brian Brown, the World Congress of Families has held an annual meeting since 2012.