Italy's Democratic Party advances gender-neutral terminology bill and attacks right‑wing sports appointments

Elly Schlein, secretary of the Democratic Party, accused the right‑wing coalition of a “military occupation” of sport, referring to the recent election of Claudio Durigon as president of the Serie A men’s volleyball league and similar placements of party allies in sports federations. She argued that such politicisation threatens the autonomy and merit‑based values of sport.

In a separate initiative, PD senator Valeria Valente presented a draft law requiring public administrations to use the word “persona” instead of “uomo” in official documents and to align titles with the gender of the individual. The proposal also seeks to amend the civil and penal codes, for example replacing “omicidio” with “assassinio”.