The mother had apparently given birth to a boy, but as the child grew up, she began insisting she was a girl. The child’s identity would change day by day—declaring her name to be Erica one day, Valentina the next.
She grew out her bangs so they would cover her face, and developed a habit of always looking downward. The teachers and other adults at the school never suspected that the child was anything but a girl.
Gender has become a hot topic in Italy recently, with many opportunities for public discussion.
When you think about it, there were many examples long ago of people who displayed firm convictions about their gender when they became independent adults—men wearing women’s clothing, or people announcing they were attracted to the same sex, for example. These days, junior high and high school kids have a complex set of categories they can identify with. The acronym LGBTQIA has become a completely normal part of everyday speech among the younger generations.
Most of us know the first four letters, which of course stand for “lesbian,” “gay,” “bisexual,” and “transgender.” The last three letters were added as new categories in the last several years—Q for “queer,” I for “intersex,” and A for “asexual.”
Another word that’s been coming up a lot recently is “pangender.” To oversimplify, “pan” refers to an identity that is multifaceted and fluid.
There are all kinds of people in the world, and things get complicated when you think of all the different orientations, behaviors, customs, and everything else that defines them. I grew up thinking there were only two genders, but gender has now opened up and become an undiscovered frontier as well.
We live in challenging times.
Like me, my schoolteacher friend and their colleagues had no idea about these complex gender structures, making it hard for them to understand what their student was struggling with. Basically, they couldn’t offer helpful guidance even if they wanted to.
Milan now hosts an annual Milano Pride event to celebrate gender diversity. It’s a huge gathering that draws in people not only from all over Italy, but from all over the world as well. They fly the rainbow flags that have become a symbol of pride throughout the city, and you can see people all around town showing their support for gender diversity. In taking on this controversial subject and creating an established event around it, the city of Milan has come to be seen as an innovative city on the cutting edge of the global pride movement. There is quite a bit of conflict around it too, however; the truth is that Milan has many conservative residents who are intolerant towards homosexuality and gender diversity, both in their words and actions.
While many companies also support the event, doing so is sometimes seen as a marketing ploy—which leads to criticism about companies being superficial in backing the pride movement.
Either way, we live in a time when there is a gap separating a younger generation that identifies with gender diversity, and an older one that lacks insight into the concept.
