3862 Homophobia in Puglia?

Hi again Kit, this subject has been touched on before on the following link:

[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/general-chat-about-italy-italy-magazine-forums/2937-gays-welcome.html?highlight=gays[/url]

You'll notice a post from the Smiths in Puglia who have said exactly the same as I would have said myself that down our end it's a very friendly place and nobody will really give a monkeys what your sexual preferences are.

Have a great time.

[QUOTE=kit]Hi,

We are intersted in rural Puglia, and wondered if any of you who live there, are aware of or have heard about any kind of homophobia/ homophobic attacks? We are a gay couple, and wonder if it would be safe for us to live in (probably southern) Puglia?

Results from a poll which indicated the level of homophobia in most Italian cities on a scale from 1(low) - 6(high), seems to have the Puglian towns in the 4-5 range. Can anyone comment on how this might translate rurally?

Thanks for any input.

FYI link to the tabulated results: [url]http://www.gayfriendlyitaly.com/law.php[/url][/QUOTE]
Puglia's President, Niki Vendola, elected by Pugliesi, is gay.
Electors are not homophobic, but, as everywhere, it could happen to find someone with these wrong ideas.

Hi Paula! Thanks for the link. :)

I agree, Notaio. Interesting fact!

Thanks for your responses you guys!

reviewing the link you posted its interesting to note that the north seems to fair better in the level of acceptance... generally i guess because bigger cities ...more cosmipolitan...maybe... however i find it hard to believe that the poll is true in some senses as italies main fascist party is in power and well supported in lots of these areas....

my point being this ... i agree entirely on the statement about the church and its level of propaganda blatantly anti gay as an institutional form of prjudice here ... but when you go up there and find fascists strutting their stuff alonside it would seem to me that like all strong male dominant societies it would be slightly unwise to as you might say be openly affectionate in front of a bunch of swastika bearing... close shaved groups... and even if not so blatantly uniformed you will find the same mentatility in a lot of that population....

the south... deep south still being a very male dominant society has the same problem but for different reasons... so i can understand the polls censoring those areas.. but like all polls perception and actuallity can be different

again i noticed Teramo mentioned slighly lower than mid... which disapointed me at a personal level because i live there.... i would say i find it seems ...and this is my perception ... like it is pretty easy going about the whole thing.... i would have thought pesacra too... i know that personal observation can never be regarded as something to base fact on but i have noticed in Teramo that the gay community... and i dont know the size of it seems pretty open.... why because i have noticed it... and therefore if it was a problem i wouldnt have

however i think you will find that levels here of crime against women in a violent sense are very high and not well reported... i generally would say where there is still acceptance of this sort of behaviour that the level of respect for any potentially fragile group is also low... you will find i think that this corelation also applies to the violence directed at domestic animals here... not that i am grouping all these things with the same level of importance... but i believe any society that accepts violence by one gender on another still has a long way to go.... in acepting difference...

the politician will have body guards ...

just an observation....

Can't speak for Puglia in terms of homophobia, but have travelled throughout Italy from Venice as far south as Napoli and Le Marche.

Have always stayed in family owned/run hotels we have never encountered any problem. Sometimes (and rarely) it seems we might be a novelty, but that has never meant we have received anything less than respectful treatment and service. In general few seem to give a stuff about which side of the sexuality fence we might bat.

In the main we have always found the Italians to take us as they find us. If treated with respect, courtesy, kindness and friendliness etc they reciprocate in kind over and over.

Perhaps because given the lack of the laddish yobbish element that exists in some parts of British society I can say that our experience is that we've found far far less in the way of homophobia in Italy than even in Brighton where we live.

Have just got back from Mesagne in Puglia, and whilst there I saw the most effeminate and obviously gay guy I've ever seen, with absolutely gorgeous hair (made me jealous anyway:-)). Nobody in the supermarket batted an eyelid, and if he was happy to be so overt in a slightly one-horse town like Mesagne, I imagine it'll only be bad luck you need to worry about.

Even Brighton can be variable: I'd go the The Malborough but avoid the Whitehawk estate like the plague!