Make that a gay communist victory
In Italy’s regional elections, for which voting was held yesterday and today, Silvio Berlusconi’s governing coalition has apparently suffered a huge defeat.
The elections brought more good news: in the region of Puglia, in the south of Italy, Niki Vendola–openly gay and a member of the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista–has beaten the incumbent regional president who was a member of Berlusconi’s party, Forza Italia.
This makes Vendola the most significant elected openly gay public official in Italy, which has up until now lagged behind most other Western European countries in electing gays to public office.