italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
Dear Derek,
I apologize; you do not mention 1938 on page 2. As you say, on page 2,
you state that in 1936, homosexual acts were criminalized. Actually,
it is on page 44 that you argue that homosexuality was recategorized as
a political crime (in the late 1930s). I'm not sure where I saw the
year 1938 and, again, I apologized if I mis-attributed it to you (I
don't have a copy of your book here with me at home, and, on the
internet, I cannot access your footnotes). Perhaps I am misreading your
"recategorized," as it implies to me that it was first outlawed and then
recategorized later as a political crime.
Best,
John
.On 02/05/2011 05:44 PM, Derek Duncan wrote:
> italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
>
> Dear John
>
> can you point to where i mention 1938? on page 2 of my book Im simply
> reiterating the information in Dall'Orto's piece about legislation
> designed to protect the health of the race introduced in 1936
>
> Best wishes
>
> Derek Duncan
>
>
> On Sat, February 5, 2011 3:37 pm, John Champagne wrote:
>
>> italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
>>
>> Cari Amici:
>>
>> I am trying to answer what one would think was a fairly straight-forward
>> question: what was the legal status of homosexuality during the Fascist
>> years? The problem is that my sources disagree.
>>
>> According to Giovanni Dall'Orto:
>>
>> In 1936, homosexuals were declared "enemies of the health of the race,"
>> the punishment for the crime being political confinement.
>>
>> "La ''Tolleranza Repressiva' dell'omosessualità. Quando un atteggiamento
>> legale diviene tradizione,"
>> <_http://www.giovannidallorto.com/saggistoria/tollera/tolle2d.html_>.
>>
>> According to Dall'Orto, this practice lasted only three years, as this
>> method of control proved too complicated and costly; in 1940, all the
>> confined returned home, but remained under the watch of the parish
>> priest, police commissioner, family, and neighbors.
>>
>> Derek Duncan instead argues that homosexuality, re-criminalized in 1936,
>> was recategorized as a political crime in 1938. See Duncan, /Reading and
>> Writing Italian Homosexuality, A Case of Possible Difference, / 2.
>>
>> Sandro Bellassai agrees with Dall'Orto's dating. See Bellassai, /La
>> Mascolinit//à// Contemporanea/ (Roma: Carocci, 2004), 91. Bellassai adds
>> that the confined numbered a little less than ninety individuals, and
>> that a large number of them came from the single province of Catania,
>> where the zealotry of some police functionaries created a significant
>> amount of scandal for the regime. It was for this reason that the
>> process was ultimately abandoned.
>>
>> According to Dall'Orto, The 1931 /Codice Rocco/ *threatened* to
>> introduce anti-homosexual legislation in Italy, but this provision was
>> *abandoned* in an effort to avoid drawing attention to the phenomenon of
>> homosexuality. Giovanni Dall'Orto, "Omosessualità e razzismo fascista,"
>> <_http://www.giovannidallorto.com/saggistoria/fascismo/razzismo/razzismo.html_>.
>> See also Dall'Orto, "Le ragioni di una persecuzione," in Martin Sherman,
>> Editor, /Bent: Nazismo, fascismo, e omosessualità/ (Torino: Gruppo
>> Abele, 1984), 101-19; and anonymous, "La rispettabilità nel codice
>> Rocco," /Museo virtuale delle intolleranza e degli stermini/
>> <_http://www.zadigweb.it/amis/schede.asp?id=8&idsch=189
>> <http://www.zadigweb.it/amis/schede.asp?id=8&idsch=189>_>.
>>
>> Without providing a citation for her dates, Vittoria de Grazia instead
>> states that "in the penal code of 1931, homosexual acts among men were
>> outlawed." De Grazia, /How Fascism Ruled Women: Italy 1922-1945/
>> (Berkeley: U of California P, 1992) 43. On the Fascist categorization of
>> homosexuality as a political crime, see also Giovanni Dall'Orto, "Il
>> paradosso del razzismo fascista verso l'omosessualità," in A. Burgio
>> (ed). /Nel nome della razza:il razzismo nella storia d'Italia 1870-1925/
>> (Bologna: Il Mulino: 1999), 515-28.
>>
>> As you can see, Dall'Orto and Bellassai, Duncan, and de Grazia all make
>> different claims concerning when homosexuality was criminalized and if
>> and when it was recategorized as a political crime.
>>
>> Any help sorting this out would be appreciated. I have also consulted
>> Lorenzo Benadusi's /Il nemico/, but it does not clarify this specific
>> question.
>>
>> Cordiali saluti,
>>
>> John Champagne
>>
>>
>>
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