 "Representational image. Reuters File")
Challenging a centuries-old tradition, an Italian politician has proposed a law to automatically assign newborns their mother’s surname at birth, prompting members of Giorgia Meloni’s coalition to question his priorities.
According to The Guardian report Dario Franceschini, a former culture minister from the centre-left Democratic Party, contends that this legislation would “right a historic wrong."
His proposal comes in the wake of a 2022 ruling by the constitutional court, which deemed the automatic assignment of a father’s surname to newborns as “discriminatory and harmful to the child’s identity.” The court said that children should receive both parents’ surnames in the order they choose, unless the parents decide on a single surname. In cases of indecision or disagreement, a judge would have the final authority, added the report.
To implement this ruling, new legislation approved by parliament was necessary, but the issue was sidelined after the rise of Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition.
Franceschini has now revived the topic, suggesting that instead of creating “endless problems” with hyphenated surnames or choosing between parents, a law should simply establish the maternal surname as the default, reported The Guardian.
“It is a simple thing and also compensation for a centuries-old injustice that has had not only a symbolic value, but has been a cultural and social source of gender inequality,” The Guardian quoted Franceschini as saying.
As in many countries, children born in Italy are typically registered with their father’s surname, while the mother’s surname is usually only allowed if the father is not involved in the child’s life.
Franceschini announced that he would introduce the bill in the coming days, provoking anger among members of Meloni’s coalition.
“Here are the great priorities of the Italian left,” Matteo Salvini, who leads the far-right League, wrote on X.
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More Shorts“Of course, let’s wipe these fathers off the face of the earth; that way we’ll solve all the problems,” he added.
Federico Mollicone from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party claimed that Franceschini’s proposal would represent a shift “from patriarchy to matriarchy.”
However, he expressed openness to the idea of children adopting the surnames of both parents.
Pierantino Zanettin from the Forza Italia party described the move as “a provocation aimed primarily at gaining media attention,” while Giulia Bongiorno from the League called for “a balanced approach that ensures no parent is rendered invisible.”
Franceschini received mostly positive responses from other opposition members, although Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione party, remained skeptical.
“Don’t we have any other priorities? Boh,” he said.
With inputs from agencies