TL;DR:
- Italy’s cabinet approves draft bill to restrict gender-affirming care for minors.
- Puberty blockers and hormones to be regulated via new protocols and ethics committees.
- A national registry will collect data on all minors receiving treatment.
- Trans advocates slam the move as profiling and harmful delay to vital care.
- PM Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government continues clampdown on LGBTQ rights.
Italy Cracks Down on Trans Youth Medical Access
Italy is turning the screw on trans teens. A new draft bill passed by the government this week aims to seriously limit access to gender-affirming medical care for anyone under 18. The move—unsurprisingly endorsed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s ultra-conservative coalition—has sent shockwaves through Italy’s LGBTQ community and beyond.
The bill, which still needs parliament’s rubber stamp, would regulate how puberty blockers and hormone treatments are prescribed to minors. These vital medications, often a lifeline for trans youth experiencing gender dysphoria, would only be available under still-undrafted protocols or, in the meantime, after approval by a national pediatric ethics board. In other words: more red tape, more delays.
And that’s not all. The bill proposes creating a national registry, overseen by Italy’s Medicines Agency, to track every minor undergoing gender-affirming treatment. Think: a database of trans kids with detailed medical histories and sensitive data, monitored by a government agency handpicked by the same folks trying to gut their rights.
“This is a form of profiling of trans people,” warned Roberta Parigiani of the Trans Identity Movement. “With all their sensitive data in the hands of a government-nominated agency… it is extremely serious.” She also pointed out how dangerous the waiting game could be for young people desperate for timely medical support. “It’s not like you can wait one or two years,” she said. For many trans teens, a delay in treatment isn’t just frustrating—it can be devastating.
Under Meloni’s leadership, Italy’s government has made a habit of bulldozing LGBTQ rights. From gutting parental recognition for same-sex couples to criminalizing foreign surrogacy arrangements, it’s been an all-out war on queer families. Meloni has openly declared herself an enemy of the so-called “LGBT lobby” and rails against “gender ideology” with a frequency that would make any culture warrior proud.
This latest legislative salvo fits the pattern—dressed up in the language of protecting minors, but in reality, a calculated move to erase trans identities from public life. And with Meloni’s majority in parliament, this bill has a very real chance of becoming law.
For the LGBTQ community in Italy and across Europe, the writing is on the wall: the far-right isn’t just posturing anymore—they’re legislating. And queer youth, particularly trans teens, are caught in the crossfire.
This is more than just another policy debate. It’s a direct assault on the right to exist, grow, and thrive as your true self. And for queer communities around the world watching this unfold, the message is chilling: silence is not an option.