“Chronicles of ordinary homophobia” in Italy

The 48 pages of Chronicles of ordinary homophobia years of listening, collecting and remembering. they don't Start from theories but from faces, names and concrete episodes. writes Massimo Battaglio, Who in these pages wanted to give a face to the "2,104 victims of homophobia, 1,521 men, of which 38 transgender; and 583 women, of which 235 transgender, whom I intercepted in the 14 years in which I carried out the research Chronicles of Ordinary Homophobia, i.e. from 7 october 2012 to 7 april 2026”, stories that he collected, month after month, on the portal homophobia.org de La Tenda di Gionata. 

Stories that “they do not represent the entire scourge of the homophobic phenomenon, but only that small part that manages to emerge thanks to the courage that the protagonists have shown by agreeing to put their face to it".

This booklet is not an essay, nor a story but it is a continuous dialogue with the reader, almost a prayer, in which the words hold together data and pain, anger and the search for meaning: "i would like to talk to the Lord about some numbers that He already knows, but that many of us and many of our organizations ignoreIt's A way to not leave these stories suspended, to not let them fall into silence.

Within this dialogue, the different forms that homotransphobia can take emerge. Not only the most obvious aggressions, but also the more subtle ones. The book lists them without the need for emphasis: “offenses and insults […] corporal violence […] psychological violenceAnd alongside these, the daily exclusions, those that arise from the family, from work, from school, from religious environments.

Then come the testimonies. And that's where the text changes pace. Stories take space, without filters. There is that of Andrea, a victim of homophobic bullying at school, who goes up to the roof and "he lets himself fall", that of those who leave a few lines before dying: "Sorry if i don't like womenThere are stories of attacks, of lives marked by words and gestures that remain: "Kicks and punches. Many. I don't count time". And there are stories that reach inside homes, inside families, where a father "he went so far as to hire a thug” to punish his son for being gay.

What emerges, little by little, is a widespread picture. Not limited to just one area. The book says it clearly: these episodes happen."at school […] in the world of work […] in the family […] in religious environmentsThere is no place that is completely outside of it.

Alongside the stories, there remains a broader reflection. Even on language, on the weight of Words. because not everything that hurts leaves visible signs: “Discrimination and insult [...] mark the heart and mind in an indelible wayIt's one of the lines that run through the entire book, almost like a filigree.

Chronicles of ordinary homophobia it moves like this, between data and stories, between memory and invocation. He doesn't try to close the discussion, rather he opens it. He leaves room for stories, puts them in a row, entrusts them to the reader. And, in some way, he asks us not to forget them.

The book can bedownloaded for free in PDF format

This ebook was created by La Tenda di Gionata on the occasion of theVigils and Sunday services to overcome homotransbiphobiaWhich will be held throughout Italy in May 2026 as part of thecornerstone 2 Project, financed by the Otto per thousand of the Waldensian Church, and created with the support ofFaith, Gender And sexuality Commission(Fe.Ge.Se.) of the Baptist, Methodist and Waldensian churches and ofGlobal Network of Rainbow Catholics(GNRC).

CHRONICLES OF ORDINARY HOMOPHOBIA by Massimo Battaglio

INDEX

Foreword by Franco Garelli
Almost a lament

Suicide testimonies
A friend of Andrea, “The boy with the pink trousers”
A.: open letter before his suicide
A.: statements from the boyfriend after his suicide
Letter from a professor to his students
MB on the death of his friend Filippo

Testimonies of attacks
GA An evening of activism and violence
Mattia and Dani, Turin
Pasquale

Testimonies of non-physical homophobic acts
Antonio, YouTuber
From the vercelli Prison
Fabrizio, story of family persecution
Gianni and his long journey
ML, working in Rome
Testimony of a religion teacher

Female testimonies
Claudia, Rome: that's how I am
C.'s mother, Ferrara
Giorgia, Aosta: it was all a dream
Valentina: don't work in Rome

Testimonies of transphobia
GZ and sport
Noemi at the station
Rebecca, Trento, and how difficult it is to live

The numbers
Distribution of victims on italian territory
Distribution of incidents and victims over time
Victims by sex and gender identity
Victims by type of wrong suffered
Victims by age