FILE PHOTO: Parish priest of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Vitaliano Della Sala poses for a photo in front of a nativity scene featuring two mothers of the Baby Jesus, instead of the conventional Mary and Joseph figurines in Capocastello di Mercogliano, Italy December 23, 2023. REUTERS/Ciro De Luca/File Photo
ROME (Reuters) - Same-sex civil unions in Italy rose in 2023 to a six-year high, the country's national statistics office said on Friday, but at the same time LGBTQ groups say the current conservative government is making life harder for them.
There were 3,019 same-sex unions last year, ISTAT said, a 7.3% year-on-year increase. It was the highest number since 2017, the first full year after same-sex partnerships were legalised under a centre-left administration.
It was still a small number compared with the more than 184,000 weddings - which are allowed only for heterosexual couples - in 2023, and around 82,000 separations and 80,000 divorces, data showed.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni won power in 2022 at the helm of a right-wing coalition following campaign pledges to defend traditional family values and fight against what she and her allies call the LGBT lobby.
Since then, her government has sought to stop local authorities from registering both parents for the children of same-sex parents and parliament last month approved a bill making it illegal for any couple to go abroad to have a baby via surrogacy.
These changes have been applauded by Christian conservative groups and criticised by the centre-left opposition and LGBT rights activists, who see the surrogacy ban as picking particularly on same-sex couples.
Italy legalised same-sex civil unions in 2016, overriding opposition from Catholic and conservative groups, but did not give them adoption rights.
(Reporting by Antonella Cinelli; Editing by Alvise Armellini and Frances Kerry)
