Italy’s Meloni rejects Canadian Trudeau’s criticism of LGBTQ+ rights at G7 summit

ROME — Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday rejected criticism from her Canadian counterpart at the G7 summit regarding her government’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights.

A reporter asked Meloni about the criticism at a press conference early Sunday in Hiroshima, Japan, which hosts the annual summit of the leaders of the world’s seven leading industrialized nations.

On television Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau told Meloni — just before private bilateral talks began during the summit — that “Canada is concerned about some of Italy’s positions on LGBT rights.” He added that he was looking forward to talking about this with the Italian Prime Minister.

Meloni looked annoyed, twiddling his thumbs and listening quietly as Trudeau switched to French to summarize his English comments. The camera operators then left the room and the two leaders began close negotiations.

Earlier this year, Meloni’s government called on city halls to stop automatically registering both parents in same-sex couples, and instead limit the recognition of parental lights to the child’s biological parent. Gay rights activists held rallies to condemn the move, calling it homophobic.

When asked about Trudeau’s comment, Meloni said he had become a “victim” of “fake news” and propaganda, adding that his assessment “doesn’t correspond to reality.”