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July 15, 2021 The Municipality of Piacenza vetoes a drag queen show scheduled in a youth center in the city and the controversy breaks out in Piacenza.
"It is not educational" according to the Councilor for Youth Policies Luca Zandonella (Lega), but the local Arcigay is not there and announces that, even if not authorized and without performing, the drag queens will still be present, at the same time criticizing what a "censorship by the junta" is defined.
The show, as part of a party organized at Spazio4.0, was to be called "The first time was revolt" and was dedicated to LGBT issues. But already on Monday the offices of the Youth Policy Department communicated the ban, first informally with an e-mail to the manager of the structure, the Cooperative L'Arco, then followed by an official Pec. The document notes that "the event is held within a municipal aggregation center, with a general educational purpose for those attending and the community" and that "the coherence of the show in question with the aims of the center is not recognized. and the service entrusted to you ". Concept reaffirmed yesterday by Councilor Zandonella himself according to which "theinitiative is not consistent with the purposes of the municipal space ".
A decision that triggered the reactions not only of minorities in the city council but also of the managers of Spazio4.0, the coop L'Arco, which through the president Stefano Sandalo instead judges "educational, in an inevitably increasingly complex and diversified society. know and understand diversity and work for a civil coexistence of different worldviews, all of course without transcending vulgarity and offense. We believe it is uneducating to convey the idea that one worldview can override the others, imposing a homologation that it actually translates into the refusal to live with different cultures and people ".
The organizers of the show explain that they will obey the order of the Municipality "to avoid exposing the cooperative that manages Spazio 4.0 to serious consequences" but at the same time they announce that the drag queens "will still be present to take part in the initiative", a sort of silent protest.
"The disbelief and regret are really strong - explain the responsible of Arcigay Lambda Piacenza - for this unjustified censorship by the municipal council of a show that was part of the charity evening organized to commemorate the beginning of the fight against discrimination , that is the Stonewall riots in New York in 1969. An ironic and popular exhibition, which has already reached more than 180 bookings. It would have been a show for the people of Piacenza to create culture while having fun ". And they conclude bitterly: "Certainly this is not the Piacenza we want. What we dream of is an open, inclusive and colorful city. One that thrives by enriching itself with differences, not suppressing them".