--- description: Ahead of the country's upcoming vote on civil union rights. title: Italy Braces for 'Family Day' Protest Against Gay Unions image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9451a0339fb74612/69887b66cf40a8a220c41b91/italy-family-day-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [diplomacy](/tag/diplomacy/) ## diplomacy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Italy Braces for 'Family Day' Protest Against Gay Unions by [Claudio Lavanga / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Claudio Lavanga / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2016 3:25 PM CUT  Thousands of demonstrators holding placards reading "wrong and wrong" take part in the Family Day rally at the Circo Massimo in central Rome, on Jan. 30, 2016. Thousands of demonstrators holding placards reading "wrong and wrong" take part in the Family Day rally at the Circo Massimo in central Rome, on Jan. 30, 2016.Aandreas Solaro—AFP/Getty Images by [Claudio Lavanga / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Claudio Lavanga / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 30, 2016 3:25 PM CUT ROME, Italy — Hundreds of thousands of Italians were expected to descend on Rome on Saturday to protest a bill that would legalize same-sex unions across the country. Lawmakers will vote next week on the proposals, which would give gay couples with civil unions — and unmarried heterosexual couples — the same rights as they would have under marriage, including the adoption of a partner’s children. “Italy can’t remain the tail-end in Europe in the field of civil and human rights,” Monica Cirinna, the bill’s author, told NBC News. “We can’t go to Europe to complain about economic problems if we carry such…” [_Read the rest of this story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/italy-same-sex-union-opponents-plan-family-day-protest-rome-n506636?cid=par-time%5F20160130 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201132/italy-family-day-gay-marriage-unions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201132/italy-family-day-gay-marriage-unions/"},"headline":"Italy Braces for 'Family Day' Protest Against Gay Unions","datePublished":"2016-01-30T15:25:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:35:57.037Z","description":"Ahead of the country's upcoming vote on civil union rights","url":"https://time.com/4201132/italy-family-day-gay-marriage-unions/","keywords":["diplomacy","Gay Marriage","LGBT","Italy","Courts","Rights"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9451a0339fb74612/69887b66cf40a8a220c41b91/italy-family-day-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Claudio Lavanga / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9451a0339fb74612/69887b66cf40a8a220c41b91/italy-family-day-lgbt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ITALY-FAMILY-DAY-DEMO","caption":"ITALY-FAMILY-DAY-DEMO","creditText":"Aandreas Solaro—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/diplomacy/","name":"diplomacy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201132/italy-family-day-gay-marriage-unions/","name":"Italy Braces for 'Family Day' Protest Against Gay Unions"}}]}] ```