'Homophobic' Italian officials stripped man of driving licence 'because he was gay'

Man ordered to have examination to see if 'condition' was deteriorating

Rome's Supreme Court of Cassation, where Danilo Giuffrida's case was heard (AFP/Getty Images)

Italy’s Supreme Court has condemned the “utterly homophobic” authorities who suspended a man’s driving licence because he was gay.

Danilo Giuffrida, 33, told doctors that he was homosexual during a medical exam ahead of military service back in 2001. The hospital in Catania, Sicily, then informed the driving licence authority, which decided he did not possess the “required psychological profile” to drive a car.

He was even ordered to have annual examination to see if his “condition” was deteriorating. In 2008 a lower court slashed a €100,000 (£85,000) compensation payment to Giuffrida, who sued the Ministries of Defence and Transport for invasion of privacy and sexual discrimination, to €20,000 (£17,500).

But yesterday the Supreme Court of Cassation in Rome said Mr Giuffrida had been the victim of “utterly homophobic behaviour” that had been ‘intolerably repeated” by the officials and ordered a bigger payment.

Mr Giuffrida, a philosophy graduate, said he hoped the verdict signalled the end of his 15-year legal battle. “All this time it’s seemed grotesque, almost surreal,” he said.