Italy's Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) has sided with a rainbow family that had requested the reinstatement of the term 'parents' on minors' identity cards.

Requiring that the words 'father' and 'mother' appear on a minor's identity card, rather than the more generic 'parents', can have an 'unreasonable' and 'discriminatory' effect. This is because a minor who has two mothers or two fathers risks being denied the right to an identity card valid for travel abroad. This is what Italy's Supreme Court has set out in black and white in a ruling that effectively strikes down a 2019 decree sought by then Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.

In 2015, under Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a legislative decree was passed introducing the electronic identity card, followed by an implementing decree specifying that when the cardholder is a minor, the document must also include the details of the parents or guardians. Contrary to what some fake news circulating since then would have people believe, no official document with the fields 'parent 1' and 'parent 2' ever existed.

In 2019, a new ministerial decree — signed by Salvini and countersigned by ministers Giulia Bongiorno (Public Administration) and Giovanni Tria (Economy) — replaced 'parents' with the terms 'father' and 'mother'. This decision had already received a negative opinion from the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante della privacy), on the grounds that — as stated in the opinion — it could prevent the document from being requested 'by parental figures not precisely falling under the terminological specification of father or mother', or force them to make declarations that do not correspond to reality.

It was precisely because of this decree that a same-sex couple who had pursued stepchild adoption — that is, the adoption of a partner's child — went to renew their son's identity card and discovered that one of the two women would be listed as 'father'. In effect, this amounted to a false declaration. They subsequently launched a legal battle supported by Rete Lenford, an association of lawyers and legal professionals dedicated to protecting the Lgbtqia+ community, and Famiglie Arcobaleno, which represents same-sex parents in Italy.

First the Rome Tribunal and then, in 2024, the Rome Court of Appeal ruled in their favour, following an appeal lodged by the Interior Ministry. With the Supreme Court — which represents the third and final level of judgment — the case is now closed. As Pagella Politica explains, the ruling in itself is sufficient to annul the 2019 ministerial decree. The term 'parents' is therefore reinstated: more neutral, and thus more adaptable to the various forms a family can take. Some operational guidance from the Ministry will likely be required, but the principle is now firmly established.

'The Supreme Court reaffirms once again a fundamental point: the true interest of minors is that their family reality be recognised for what it is. The real harm would be to ignore or deny it,' commented Alessia Crocini, president of Famiglie Arcobaleno, and Vincenzo Miri, president of Rete Lenford.