A villa confiscated from the Camorra mafia in Castel Volturno, in the province of Caserta, will become a Mediterranean LGBT centre for Italians and migrants.
Italian gay rights' association Arcigay said a villa confiscated from the Camorra mafia in Castel Volturno, in the province of Caserta, will become a Mediterranean LGBT center for Italians and migrants.
Caserta, a city in the southern Campania region, is host to thousands of migrants. Arcigay national secretary Gabriele Piazzoni said the organization enthusiastically welcomed news that the villa was being entrusted to its Caserta non-profit, Rain Arcigay.
The center will assist those fleeing from discrimination
The center will welcome and assist the many homosexuals seeking asylum in Italy, after fleeing violent discrimination in their countries of origin. "The villa, which in its murky history bears the traces of the mafia's excessive power in our country, will now redeem itself from that history thanks to the foresight of Castel Volturno Mayor Dimitri Russo and the entire city council," Piazzoni said. "It will open and become one of the concrete symbols in the fight against organized crime," he said.
"This property was the key resource that was missing in order to give life to an important and ambitious project, that of creating in Castel Volturno a multipurpose and multifunctional space for all LGBT people who cross the Mediterranean. A space free from discrimination that represents a concrete place for reclaiming human, civil, and social rights, beyond all borders," Piazzoni said.
An online crowdfunding campaign is underway to raise money
A unique characteristic of the project will be its social housing, which will allow temporary lodging in the three-storey villa to LGBT people who find themselves in difficulty due to being far from their families and not yet independent, or those who cannot support themselves or who have come to Italy because of persecution in their countries of origin. An online crowdfunding campaign is underway to raise money to restore the 300-square-meter villa. Donations can be made here.