The Italian Senate has voted to make parental consent mandatory for sex education activities, with Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara saying the measure will protect children from the “confusion of gender propaganda”.
According to Italy’s state broadcaster RAI on Thursday, the country’s Senate approved the legislation by 78 votes to 38, giving final approval to what has been described as the “informed consent” bill.
The new law introduces a requirement for written, prior, and informed consent from parents before students can participate in extracurricular activities related to sexuality.
RAI reported that preschool and primary school pupils will be excluded from sex education altogether.
The education minister welcomed the bill’s passage, describing it as a “historic reform” and saying it would strengthen the role of parents in decisions relating to their children.
“With today’s final approval of the Informed Consent Act in the Senate, we are protecting children from the confusion of gender propaganda and giving parents a voice on issues of gender identity for underage adolescent children,” Valditara said.
“In this we apply the Constitution which gives parents the right to educate their children. Obviously we demand that certain theories be explained by doctors, psychologists, serious professionals.”
The Italian Education Minister also pushed back against criticism that the legislation would prevent schools from teaching topics related to relationships or sexual health.
“It’s not true that this law will not allow for emotional education,” he continued.
“For the first time, the government has made education about respect, relationships, and empathy permanently mandatory in all grades of school.”
He added: “It’s not true that sexual education in the biological sense won’t be done. It will continue to be done in science programs at all levels of school.”
He also said that sex education would now cover the spread of STIs.
“For the first time, we are introducing education on the prevention of risks arising from sexually transmitted diseases into middle school curricula… It will also be introduced into high school science programs.”
Valditara later said the legislation would prevent what he described as “gender propaganda” in schools.
“With this law we protect the growth of young people and promote their balanced maturation,” he said.
“I thank the parliamentary majority for the great work they have done in support of a historic reform.”
The new regulations also require schools to provide families with at least one week’s notice before any sex education activity takes place.
Schools must additionally disclose the identities of any third-party organisations or guest speakers involved in delivering the material.
The legislation has drawn criticism from opposition figures on the Italian left.
Angelo Bonelli, co-leader of the Greens and Left Alliance party, argued that sex education should not be treated differently from other school subjects.
“Subordinating sex education to parental consent is like asking families’ permission to teach Italian [literature] or history,” Bonelli said, adding that this was an “institutional absurdity that betrays the educational mandate of public schools.”
The legislation forms part of a broader debate in Italy over the role of parents in education and the teaching of issues relating to sexuality and gender identity in schools.