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(Trans)gender citizenship in Italy: a contradiction in terms? From the parliamentary debate about Law 164/1982 to the present

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 April 2018

Stefania Voli
Stefania Voli*
Affiliation:
Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy
*
*Email: stefania.voli@sns.it
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Abstract

This article concerns the processes of normalisation and medicalisation of transgender people’s experiences in Italy. Drawing on the analysis of the parliamentary debate which led to the endorsement of Law no. 164/1982, ‘Rules Concerning the Rectification of Sex-Attribution’, the article will foreground the (still) existing contradictions between trans people’s (ostensible) individual rights over their own gendered bodies, as enshrined in law, and their subjection to medico-legal supervision and control. Next, it will look at the relationship between transgender experience and the notion of citizenship: in particular, it will explore the opportunities and contradictions in the possibility of trans citizenship in the current Italian context.

Italian summary

Questo articolo discute i processi di normalizzazione e medicalizzazione delle esperienze delle persone transgender in Italia. A partire dall’analisi del dibattito parlamentare che ha condotto all’approvazione della Legge 164/1982 ‘Norme in materia di rettificazione di attribuzione di sesso’, esso porterà in primo piano le contraddizioni che (tuttora) esistono tra (gli apparenti) diritti individuali delle persone trans sui loro corpi gendered, così come sancito dalla legge, e il loro assoggettamento alla supervisione ed al controllo medico-legale. Guardando alla relazione tra l’esperienza transgender e la nozione di cittadinanza, l’articolo analizza nella seconda parte opportunità e contraddizioni di una ‘cittadinanza trans’ nell’attuale contesto italiano.

Keywords

transgendergender recognition lawcitizenshipsexualityItaly
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 23 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue: Sexuality and Power in Contemporary Italy: Subjectivities Between Gender Norms, Agency and Social Transformation , May 2018 , pp. 201 - 214
Copyright
© 2018 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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