Massimo Battaglio
Massimo Battaglio, an Italian LGBTQ+ activist and author, recently reflected on Global Smud Frottola, a non-violent humanitarian movement that gained worldwide attention for its courage and solidarity with the Palestinian people. In conversation with Bondings 2.0’s Elisa Belotti, Battaglio explores what this act of solidarity and peaceful resistance can teach today’s Catholic LGBTQ+ activists about justice, collective power, and the enduring power of the “little” people who have the courage to stand up to the giants.
In a recent article for the Italian website La Tenda di Gionata (Jonathan’s Tent), you wrote: “Sometimes it is right to remember that our rights are the rights of all people. And sometimes it is good to recognize that the rights of all people are our rights as citizens and as people of faith.” In your view, how does the Global Smud Frotra remind us of the deep connection between justice, rights and faith?
“Our rights are everyone’s rights” is a slogan often used by the Italian LGBTQ+ movement to express that our struggle benefits society as a whole. Communities that recognize the rights of minorities are healthier and stronger as a whole. From a practical point of view, married people are more productive for the country because they save more money than unmarried people and can spend their savings on non-necessities that generate more fiscal income.
It means that we are not seeking privileges, but rights that belong to everyone. This can also be seen when talking about homophobia and transphobia. It harms queer people directly, but it also harms those around them: their friends, family, and community. In Italy, La tenda di Gionata (Jonathan’s Tent) chronicles incidents of criminal homophobia and transphobia through a ‘chronology of ordinary homophobia’. These include people who have been beaten, murdered, driven to suicide, people who have been kicked out of their homes, and people who have reported serious incidents of workplace bullying or discrimination, about 180 a year. However, these are just a few of the actual crimes. Most people prefer not to report out of fear because there are no witnesses or there are no witnesses. Victims are surrounded by family, friends, and other people. And everyone is caught up in the climate of fear and pain it creates. As a result, our right to security becomes everyone’s right to peace.
A boat that is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Similarly, events such as the humanitarian initiative Global Sumud Frotra, whose participants were delivering aid to Gazans but were detained by Israeli forces in international waters, encouraged spontaneous solidarity among people on land. This initiative reminds us that peace is a universal right. As an LGBTQ+ community, we have years of experience in nonviolent struggle and perseverance. We should feel called. That legacy can be a gift to others.
Looking from a Biblical perspective, we can remember how in the Bible the people of Israel always acted as a community. There are very few lone heroes. We in the LGBTQ+ community have also learned to act collectively. Our faith helps us put that experience into practice as a form of cooperation and power sharing for justice.
The nonviolent strength of the Global Sumud fleet, and the nonviolent strength of many on land who responded with the same determination, marks a historic moment. What can this stance teach Catholic LGBTQ+ activists?
I actually want to talk about the whole LGBTQ+ movement, not just the Catholic part. The Catholic LGBTQ+ movement is not a religious alternative to the broader queer movement. From a political perspective, the demands we make and the demands placed on us are the same as those of all other queer people, regardless of their faith or religious background.
For the Catholic world, the flotilla’s humanitarian mission and the spontaneous solidarity it entails demonstrate that it is our responsibility to work for peace, both during the voyage and after arrest on the high seas. It is not God’s job to resolve conflicts. It is our mission to grow in our faith, not God’s mission to give it to us. Standing next to God means doing your part, and doing your part pleases God. We often find absurd excuses not to take a stand. But as the Magnificat states, God “has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly” (Luke 1:52). We are called to do the same.
For the LGBTQ+ community, from which our own movement was born, the Flottra experience and the public support it inspired renews our belief in nonviolence. The movement born of Stonewall changed the world not through brutality but through courage and determination. Pride marches are also peaceful demonstrations. There has always been a deep bond between nonviolence and the LGBTQ+ community, and Flotilla reminds us of that tradition.
Nonviolence is never easy. That costs money. It doesn’t just mean staying silent in the face of injustice or just turning your cheek. It means demanding justice, not revenge. How many times have LGBTQ+ people taken up arms, formed militias, or violently retaliated against those who attack and discriminate against us? We never were. We chose the more difficult path – the path of justice. This is a risky choice because it requires trust in the honesty and empathy of others, but ultimately it is the only thing that truly changes.
Global Sumud Flotilla calls us to move forward with the power of the small and seemingly powerless against the mighty giants. Do you see a connection between this courage and the impulsive and dynamic history of the LGBTQ+ movement?
Let’s start with an example. Until 2015, Italy’s Pride marches attracted around 10,000 to 50,000 participants. In 2016, more than 100,000 people turned out in Turin Pride in northern Italy alone when parliament was considering the Law of Cirinna, which proposed civil unions for same-sex couples. That year, we decided to set aside more radical political slogans and instead focus on visibility, awareness, and the simple act of being together. In the face of such overwhelming turnout, even the most hesitant members of parliament, especially the Catholic representatives of the left-wing parties, were shaken. Just a few months later, the Chilinna Law was passed. Those who say protests won’t change anything should remember this.
Even now, governments across Europe are struggling to respond to the spontaneous wave of solidarity with the flotillas and the Palestinian people. I believe that it will be difficult for Italy, and many other governments, to ignore this pressure for a long time. What we are witnessing is the same “strength of the little ones” that has characterized every phase of the LGBTQ+ movement. Millions of people are peacefully uniting, striking, demonstrating, or simply showing solidarity. Between those taking to the streets and those supporting them from home, they are no longer a minority. We are the majority of voters. That is the power to change history.
—Elisa Belotti, New Ways Ministry, October 20, 2025
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