Ivan Scalfarotto
| Ivan Scalfarotto | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development
In office Starting from April 8, 2016 Prime Minister Matteo Renzi Preceded by Carlo Calenda Undersecretary of State for Constitutional Reforms and for Government Liaison to Parliament From February 28, 2014 to April 8, 2016 Prime Minister Matteo Renzi 0Preceded by Sabrina De Camillis Succeeded by - Vice President of the Democratic Party From november, 7, 2009 to december, 15, 2013 Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Sandra Zampa | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 August 1965 Pescara, Italy |
| Political party | Democratic Party (since 2007) |
| Profession | Politician |
Ivan Scalfarotto (born in Pescara, Italy, on the 16th of August 1965) is an Italian politician and activist, committed to LGBT rights. On 8 April 2016 he was nominated Undersecretary of State at the Economic Development. Before he was Undersecretary for Constitutional Reforms and for Government Liaison to Parliament, under the Cabinet of Prime Minister Renzi
He was candidate to the national leadership of the center-left coalition in the primary elections of The Union (Center-left Party) in 2005 and from 2009 to 2013 he was Vice President of the Democratic Party. He has been elected in the Chamber of Deputies at the 2013 general elections.
In April 2010 he founded “Parks –Free and Equal”, a non-profit association of companies committed to implement policies of equal opportunities for their own GLBT workers and to create a culture of respect and inclusion on workplaces. When he was nominated by the Italian Government, he left any operational activity in the association and, on 31 March 2014, he became Honorary President of “Parks”. In 2015 and 2016 he was the only Italian person to be included in the Global Diversity List - Top 50 diversity figures in public life Global Diversity List, that lists the fifty figures in public lives that mostly contributed to the progress and acknowledgement of diversity rights.
Biography
Family, studies and works
When he was three years old, his family moved to Foggia. In 1988 in the same city, he was elected within the “Verdi”, the Green Party, as city councilor. After graduating in Law, he worked for a certain period in the Italian Commercial Bank, then he moved to different cities around Italy (Barletta, Viareggio, Padova, Monza, Biella). In 1992 he moved to Milan, where he worked in the Central Direction of Comit, that he will leave in 1995 to work in the Banco Ambrosiano Veneto. After several working experiences, also as Human Resources Director, from 2002 he has worked in London as Human Resource Director of Citigroup.
The letter published on the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica”
In 1996, La Repubblica publishes a letter where Scalfarotto expresses his disappointment and disillusion vis-à-vis the expectations generated by the first Prodi Government. The letter doesn’t pass unnoticed and it gathers consensus over it, starting to spread certain voices over “those that are deluded by the Ulivo” (the center-left Party led by Prodi). Thus, Romano Prodi and Walter Veltroni called Scalfarotto at Palazzo Chigi to report on that and receive more explanations. Five years later, in 2001, he founded the movement called “Let us adopt the Constitution”, with the aim to protect the Constitution.
Ideas and communication
The ideas that mostly inspired his election campaign are the attention to personal merit, in the public administration and in politics, the fight against gerontocracy and support to secularism. Openly homosexual, he is a supporter of the introduction of the marriage and of the possibility to obtain the adoption of children for homosexual couples. When he returned to his work, moving to the Moscow office, his supporters established a political Association called “Partecipo” (I attend), whose Scalfarotto is the President, with the aim to support the ideas that where at the basis of his campaign, also after the primary elections in 2005. His way of doing politics is based on direct communications via the Internet: his blog represents the main channel for the spreading of his ideas during the election campaign. He wrote the pamphlet Contro i Perpetui, published by Il Saggiatore on March 2006, where he sums up the main topics of his initiative and where he analyses the Italian political situation. He also wrote, together with Sandro Mangiaterra, the book called “In nessun paese - Perché sui diritti dell'amore l'Italia è fuori dal mondo. (In any country – the reasons why Italy is out of the world on love rights). The book was published in 2010 by Piemme and deals with civil rights, by comparing the Italian legislation with those of other European and global countries. Scalfarotto proposes ten steps to modify the current legislation. Among those, the marriage for homosexual couples, a stronger fight against homophobia, the introduction of the maternity leave for men and the possibility to apply for a change in the sex also without surgery.
Candidacy at the Primary election of the “L’Unione” in 2005
In 2003 he founds, in London, the first foreign society of the Association called “Freedom and Justice”, that, two years later, proposes to Scalfarotto to candidate in the primary election of the “L’Unione”. He accepts and, after some initial difficulty in reaching the necessary signatures for the subscription, he presents his candidacy. The primary elections take place on the 16 October 2005 with seven candidates: Scalfarotto ranks sixth, gathering 26,912 votes (equal to 0.6% of the consensus), preceded by Romano Prodi, that was then nominated as Premier of the coalition, Fausto Bertinotti, Clemente Mastella, Antonio Di Pietro and Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio.
On 18 June 2007, he announces his participation at the Primary election of the Democratic Party, in support of the candidacy of Walter Veltroni as Secretary of the DC. Together with others, including Marco Simoni, a university professor and former director of his election campaign in 2005, Luca Sofri, and the astrophysicist Sandra Savaglio, he founded the movement called “iMille”, with the aim to renew the ruling class of the Italian centre-left. During the political election in 2006, he declared in a public convention to vote for the Green Party. In 2007, he was invited by the national secretary Piero Fassino to enroll in the Left Democratic Party and took part in the congress that ended this political party and then, together with “la Margherita”, established the Democratic Party (DP). He was elected in the National Constituent Assembly during the primaries on 14th Oct. 2007, and joined the Commission on DP Statute where he proposed amendments – that where then approved – envisaging the inclusion of an anti-homophobia rule, the creation of SIPA (the Italian System for the participation) and the possibility to open online political clubs. Indeed, he is candidate by the online Italian DP club called “ Barack Obama ", to the Chamber of Deputies in the college Lombardy 1 , within the Democratic Party: he ranked as the first of non-elected in the list. He collaborates for the newspaper “L’Unità”, and in 2007 and 2008 he was regular guest during the last three editions of the popular TV show “Crozza Italia Live” on LA7. Then he goes back to Milan, in February 2009, and in April he is candidate for DP at the 2009 European Parliament election in the North West constituency. Although not elected, he gathers more than 22,000 preferences. From November 2009 he was Vice President of the DP Assembly, together with Marina Sereni. On 25 September 2012 he announces his support to Matteo Renzi at DP Primary elections.
Deputy for the Democratic Party and Undersecretary of State
He candidates at the Political elections in 2013 in the DP list in the Region Puglia, and was elected at the Chamber of Deputies, and as a member of the Commission on Justice. On 28 February 2014, he was nominated Secretary of State for Constitutional Reforms and for Government Liaison with the Parliament in the Renzi Government. He is the first openly-LGBT Italian politician to take a Government role. On 23 September 2014 he is nominated by the DP Regional Secretary of Puglia Region Michele Emiliano, as Regional Coordinator of the Puglia political office. On the 8 April 2016 he is nominated Undersecretary of State at the Economic Development, in charge of foreign trade.