Katia Bellillo


Katia Bellillo is an Italian politician and former Minister. Originally a member of the PRC, she joined the PDCI in the 1998 and became Minister for Regional Affairs. She later became Minister for Equal Opportunities in 2000, in which role she successfully championed a range of issues including LGBT rights and women's boxing.

Early career

Katia Bellillo was born in Foligno in Umbria on 17 February 1951. After graduating in education and social work, specializing in family mediation, from the University of Perugia, she was elected a regional councillor for Umbria from 1976. She served two terms as a member of the Communist Refoundation Party, serving as vice president of the Regional Council. She later became a city councilor in Perugia where she was part of the Board of Directors of the local public transport company and a member of the Management Committee of the local health authority,. She became vice president of the Provincial Council of Perugia and councilor with responsibility for wildlife planning, social services, education, culture, sports and leisure, equal opportunities.

Role in government

In 1998 she participated in the internal split in the PCI, becoming part of the new Party of Italian Communists. The new party joined the coalition led by the Democrats of the Left. Bellillo joined the first D'Alema government, serving in both the first and second governments as Minister for Regional Affairs. In the next Amato Government she was Minister for Equal Opportunities. In this role, she co-founded the Commission for Equalities and the Rights of Homosexuals with Laura Balbo which, among other achievements, enabled homosexuals to become blood and organ donors. She also launched a national campaign to remove discrimination against female boxers and promote the sport of women's boxing.

Later career

At the 2001 general election she was re-elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the single-member constituency of Orvieto. She was a member of the XIV European Affairs Commission and the member of the PDCI National Secretariat responsible for the Department of Civil Rights. After the electoral defeat of The Left – The Rainbow in the 2008 elections, she joined with Umberto Guidoni to found the Unite the Left movement. The movement, initially part of the PDCI, became independent and merged into Left Ecology Freedom in 2010. Bellillo left the party shortly afterwards. In 2019, she reentered politics and ran for mayor of Perugia. She was unsuccessful, only receiving 1.77% of the vote.

Controversies

During a Porta a Porta programme on sexual harassment broadcast on 1 February 2001, Bellillo was attacked by Alessandra Mussolini.
In 2005, both Bellillo and the actress Sabrina Ferilli supported the referendum on assisted fertilisation. Ferilli later told Gente that despite respecting the practice, she personally preferred adoption. Bellillo denounced her in an interview in Corriere della Sera and was unsuccessfully sued by Ferilli due to parliamentary immunity.

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