Vladimir Luxuria

Vladimir Luxuria at the Bologna Gay Pride 2012

Vladimir Luxuria (* 24. June 1965 in Foggia as Wladimiro Guadagno ) is an Italian writer , actress , television actress, presenter and former politician .

She was from April 21, 2006 to April 28, 2008 for the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista member of the Italian Parliament . She was the first known member of a European Parliament to publicly acknowledge being trans .

Life

She began her theater career as a drag queen in the "Taverna Del Gufo" and various nightclubs in her hometown of Foggia. In 1985 Luxuria moved to Rome to study languages ​​and literature. There she continued her theater and acting career.

As an activist in the lesbian and gay movement , she became artistic director of the Circolo di cultura omosessuale Mario Mieli in 1993 . Two years earlier she had her first film role in Cena alle nove by Paolo Breccia . This debut was followed by eight other films she made. She was co-organizer of the first Italian Gay Pride Parade on July 2nd, 1994 in Rome, in which ten thousand people took part. In the years that followed, Luxuria intensified its political and social activities, collaborating with various daily newspapers such as L'Unità and Liberazione , radio and television stations. Her involvement in charity projects and for the care of leukemia sufferers also received widespread attention.

Luxuria identifies with the English term transgender , but distinguishes herself from the term transsexual because she has not had her body adjusted to her identity gender by means of gender reassignment surgery . She prefers feminine nouns, adjectives, and titles to describe herself.

The congratulations of strangers after the 2006 election on vacation with their parents in southern Italy were the beginning of her father, who was always ashamed and worried about his reputation, to put this fear aside and to love her for who she is.

General election 2006

In the parliamentary elections in 2006 Luxuria ran for the Partito della Rifondazione Comunista in the constituency of Lazio 1, which split off from the Communist Party of Italy in 1991. Her candidacy caused perplexity in the moderate wing of the coalition parties L'Unione , especially in the UDEUR of Clemente Mastella , who called Luxuria “ ridiculous Cicciolina ”. The polemic intensified after the actress admitted that she worked as a prostitute in her early years in Rome . There were also insulting and vulgar attacks, as the representatives of the Alleanza Nazionale , the Luxuria at a press conference with fennel branches pelted (fennel, Italian: finocchio , in the jargon gay or fagot ). The members concerned were later expelled from their party. During a discussion on television, Alessandra Mussolini , the chairwoman of the neo-fascist Alternativa Sociale , said Meglio fascista che frocio , which means better a fascist than a gay .

In her capacity as a MP, Luxuria encountered opposition from right-wing politicians early on in her term of office, who insisted that she be denied access to the women's washrooms and that a third toilet be installed. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi greeted her on the political stage with the words “At least not a man and therefore no competition for me”, to which she replied: “We both wear high shoes and put on make-up when we go out.” Later the situation around Luxuria calmed down. who told the media that she has now received a lot of respect from her political opponents.

General election 2008

In the early parliamentary elections in April 2008, Luxuria stood for the left-wing alliance La Sinistra - L'Arcobaleno in the constituency of Sicily 1 . With only 2.6% of the vote in this constituency, the party and thus also Luxuria failed to make it into parliament. After the clear election defeat, Luxuria withdrew from politics for the time being.

watch TV

In 2008, Luxuria took part in the reality show L'isola dei famosi , the Italian version of Celebrity Survivor , which aired from Rai 2 to 2012 . There, Luxuria early October a policy made gaffe for which it has been criticized on several occasions. For example, on the occasion of a question and answer session during the show, despite her political background, she stated that 1985 was the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall . Around a month later, Luxuria came under heavy criticism across the country for the statements and suspicions she made in the same show towards other participants and third parties. Luxuria was particularly accused of behaving vulgarly and disrespectfully towards other people on the reality show and thus behaving exactly the opposite of what she had campaigned for for years when dealing with minorities. On the evening of November 24, 2008, Vladimir Luxuria won the reality show L'isola dei famosi with 54% of the vote against Belén Rodríguez . She donated 50% of the profit to UNICEF , with the reasoning: "Since I cannot and will not have children, I donate 50% of my share of the profit to an association that takes care of children in need: UNICEF". In 2009 Luxuria traveled to Mozambique with a UNICEF delegation to campaign for AIDS orphans.

In 2012, Vladimir Luxuria hosted the ninth season of L'isola dei famosi on Rai 2 together with Nicola Savino .

Vladimir Luxuria has hosted the Italian version of Adam sucht Eva on Deejay TV since 2015 .

Web links

Commons : Vladimir Luxuria  - collection of images

• Vladimir Luxuria in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Vladimir Luxuria's website (Italian)
• “ Meglio fascista che frocio ” A short video excerpt from the TV talk with Alessandra Mussolini.
• Vladimir Luxuria A portrait in French

Individual evidence

1. ^ Official website of the Italian Chamber of Deputies
2. ↑ ^{a b} Anna Reimann: Transsexuals in Italy's Parliament - “We both wear high shoes and make up” , spiegel.de, April 22, 2007
3. ↑ 365gay.com: Squabble Over Which Bathroom Trans Politician Should Use ( Memento of the original dated May 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , May 5, 2006
4. ^ Il Messaggero, October 8, 2008
5. ^ Corriere della sera, November 6, 2008
6. ↑ Si torna sull'Isola dei Famosi! Al via la nona edizione dal 24 gennaio su Rai2 . Rai, December 29, 2011 (Italian) ( January 8, 2012 memento in the Internet Archive ).