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How does Italy compare to the US in terms of LGBT friendliness/acceptance? As a gay person myself, I have mixed feeling about Americans' attitudes toward LGBT people. There are still tens of millions of Americans in 2018 who think I'm going to hell and shouldn't have the same rights and abilities as straight people. So how does Italy compare? I noticed that same sex marriage is not legal in Italy, but civil unions are. I would imagine that the Catholic church controls much of Italy's politics, right?
Italy is probably somewhere between Sweden and Botswana in that department.
I mean, the current political climate is not particularly positive towards LGBT people, but then again it's very likely you'll get beaten for this.
You are not Italian, you are American. You do not even speak the language.
Everything you ask boils down to the individual. Also, even though small compared to the US, Italy is not one monolithic country. People in the North are culturally very different from the people down South and the standard of living is also significantly higher in the North.
A co-work of mine has an Italian passport because his mother is an Italian citizen.
The northern Italians do tend to look down on those from the south. It is the usual thing that the south is more dependent on Italian and EU welfare and there is resentment that they do not contribute more. Having said that, my husband is Sicilian born and when we were travelling in the north this year he met only curiosity, not hostility. When they heard his accent they would ask about his origin and then usually switch to English, which wasn't the best for my attempts to practice Italian.
Older Italians often speak with a high modality ie the language is very direct which can make it sound aggressive. I have never found Italians of any age rude but then I have only travelled there with my DH. We found some of the French much less pleasant than the Italians on our trip this year.
I found them rude even travelling with my husband. All old to middle age Italian males, they were way too macho for their own good, we were their customers too. 4 examples in my short trip:
1- taxi driver didn’t know the local hotel in Rome, he was getting annoyed at us.
2- Hotel manager was annoyed at me that I didn’t have the voucher to stay at his hotel. It turned he was wrong . But I spent my hard earned dollar on the phone to the booking agent.
3- Airbnb guy forgot to tell us how to use induction oven,he didn’t post the info in our apartment, then when my husband called and he said he told me he did. He told me nothing. I have very good memory. Kind of like blame the wife thing. Very rude.
4- another Italian guy who lived in the same Airbnb apartment lost his key permanently, he knew the Airbnb always have tenants so he rang our apartment to let him in. When I didn’t let him in, he swore at me.
I like Italian style bathrooms because that's only country that I know to have a bidet in addition to a toilet.
Bidets are popular in Argentina too, but its also true that Argentina is the most Italian country outside of Italy. They even speak Spanish in a very Italian way. Perhaps the strong Italian connection has something to do with the widespread use of bidets. lol
I found them rude even travelling with my husband. All old to middle age Italian males, they were way too macho for their own good, we were their customers too. 4 examples in my short trip:
1- taxi driver didn’t know the local hotel in Rome, he was getting annoyed at us.
2- Hotel manager was annoyed at me that I didn’t have the voucher to stay at his hotel. It turned he was wrong . But I spent my hard earned dollar on the phone to the booking agent.
3- Airbnb guy forgot to tell us how to use induction oven,he didn’t post the info in our apartment, then when my husband called and he said he told me he did. He told me nothing. I have very good memory. Kind of like blame the wife thing. Very rude.
4- another Italian guy who lived in the same Airbnb apartment lost his key permanently, he knew the Airbnb always have tenants so he rang our apartment to let him in. When I didn’t let him in, he swore at me.
Yeah, decide for yourself.
Fuddy duddies and Italians are not a good mix for sure. Although what you're attesting to sounds plausible you'll find an adjustment in tact and slight emotional appeal or banter goes a long way in Italy. I would've just lied and said "oh goodness, I must've forgotten, can you explain to me how the oven works again please?" The object is to get what you want in the end and at the end of it all you become buddies.
Sometimes you need to learn to not be so rigid in certain cultures, it goes against you.
No, as a Muslim life in America is far easier than it would be in Italy. Islam is not a recognized religion therefore no religious holidays, time off for religious holidays not recognized as such, and mosques not official. Also, Italy has some requirement for Muslims to sign a petition like all other religions other than Catholicism have to do, except the amount of signatures required to be recognized is significantly higher.
This is the " Progressive Europe" liberals in America so highly regard... blind to the fact our freedoms are far greater than anywhere else on earth.
In short, Europe is pretty on the outside and stinks on the inside if you ask me.
Not sure what you mean by Islam being an official religion and mosques being official in the US????
Also, being favorable or enthusiastic about Islam or any other religion is not what necessarily makes a country a better place to live - that's a highly personal criterion.
Fuddy duddies and Italians are not a good mix for sure. Although what you're attesting to sounds plausible you'll find an adjustment in tact and slight emotional appeal or banter goes a long way in Italy. I would've just lied and said "oh goodness, I must've forgotten, can you explain to me how the oven works again please?" The object is to get what you want in the end and at the end of it all you become buddies.
Sometimes you need to learn to not be so rigid in certain cultures, it goes against you.
I’m not known for tack, not when I paid €1000 to stay at the apartment. I’m an American for goodness sake. Even though my husband is from UK, he doesn’t put up with that kind of behavior either. It’s considered condescending to keep blaming the wife, to say the least. Bad customer service. Maybe these people don’t know what it is. Interesting thing is I went back after my stay and read the reviews of this Airbnb and sure enough he was blaming other guests too.
I didn’t have any problem in Spain nor France. I’m not even going to mention Switzerland.
I’m not known for tack, not when I paid €1000 to stay at the apartment. I’m an American for goodness sake. Even though my husband is from UK, he doesn’t put up with that kind of behavior either. It’s considered condescending to keep blaming the wife, to say the least. Bad customer service. Maybe these people don’t know what it is. Interesting thing is I went back after my stay and read the reviews of this Airbnb and sure enough he was blaming other guests too.
I didn’t have any problem in Spain nor France. I’m not even going to mention Switzerland.
Well, Italy is obviously not for you.
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