It seems that a few years ago young Italian man called Danilo Giuffrida was undergoing his medical assessment for military service, and disclosed the fact that he was homosexual. The information was passed on to the ministry of defence and the transport ministry, whereupon the latter apparently revoked his driving licence and insisted that he should re-take his test, as his admission of homosexuality suggested a "sexual identity distrubance". On re-taking (and passing) his test, Signor Giuffrida was given a driving licence, but with just one year's validity rather than the standard ten.
A court has now ruled that the action was discriminatory and breached Signor Giuffrida's constitutional rights, and that homosexuality could not be considered to be a 'mental illness'. He has been awarded €100,000 in damages and the court ruled
Earlier this year, Italy's Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, won a Senate vote to maintain the Italian troop presence in Afghanistan (at a level of around 2,000 personnel). Thank goodness for the court ruling in the Giuffrida case. Otherwise those troops might have begun to wonder why they are being sent all the way to Afghanistan to repel a fundamentalist regime which uses religious doctrine as the basis for discriminatory and oppressive behaviour.
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