The birth of Aronne, son of Padua city councilor for social affairs Margherita Colonnello (Democratic Party), has ignited a nationwide controversy in Italy over a symbolic rainbow ribbon. Traditionally, a blue or pink ribbon announces a birth, but the display of five multi-colored ribbons on the municipal administration’s office door on August 16th triggered a wave of disapproval.
The criticism quickly reached the national level. Deputy Prime Minister and League party leader Matteo Salvini posted on social media, offering “congratulations and best wishes to mum, dad and the baby!” before adding, “but was all this really necessary?” Mariastella Gelmini, a senator for Noi Moderati (We Moderates), called it “gender extremism that causes harm,” stating, “at birth we are male or female. Full stop. Biology decides that: denying it is like claiming the Earth is flat.”
Eleonora Mosco, a city councilor for the League, said the child had been “turned, just born, into an ideological poster.” Rossano Sasso, a League deputy and head of the Culture, Science, and Education committee, intensified the criticism, urging people “not to exploit a newborn.” He added, “No, dear Madam. One is born male or one is born female, and your ideology will never be able to erase these differences.”
Margherita Colonnello described the reactions as “unexpected,” replying, “Our son is not even two weeks old. We would never have imagined having to spend this precious time submerged by a national controversy about our family.” In a Facebook post, the councilor pointed the finger at “keyboard warriors” who “unleashed themselves based on a statement that was not reported correctly, filling us with hate.”
She was referring to her comments last May at the Padova Pride event, made before she knew the baby’s sex, when she said: “I will give you a rainbow ribbon because all colors are beautiful. And then you will choose.” Colonnello clarified that “the ‘beast’ took our speech at Padova Pride, given 3 months ago, and distorted it, making it a caricature and content easy to share to fuel verbal violence.” She stated that their Pride speech, which is publicly available, was “conceived and delivered against gender stereotypes that still influence our society today, generating hate and discrimination.”
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