The Italian Court of Appeal has overturned legal recognition of a same-sex marriage.
Joseph Chigiotti and Stefano Bucci married in New York in 2012. However, the marriage was not recognised by an official in the city of Grosseto in the central region of Tuscany.
In response, the couple sued Grosseto city hall seeking recognition. The local court said there was “no reason” that their marriage should not be recognised, nor any others conducted in countries where gay marriage is legal.
Activists were hopeful that the decision would be the first step towards marriage equality throughout the country. Fabrizio Marrazzo of the LGBT rights group Gay Center called it “a new chapter for gay couples in Italy”.
But in its ruling, the Court of Appeal cited the fact that the initial lawsuit was filed against the county, when it should have been filed against the city’s mayor.
As a result, the case has been sent back to the district court.
While homosexuality has been legal in Italy since 1890, an attempt to amend the country’s constitution to protect LGBT people from discrimination failed in 2002. Since then, several attempts have been made in the Italian Parliament to introduce legal recognition for same-sex marriage but none have been successful.
Photo of the Italian flag by Floris M. Oosterveld via Flickr