Italian government's anti-LGBT rhetoric blamed for brutal beating of trans woman in Milan

A video of a trans woman in Milan being pepper sprayed, kicked and beaten by three police officers has caused a stir in Italy, with many drawing a link between the incident and growing transphobic rhetoric in the country.

The footage shows officers repeatedly hitting the woman, a Brazilian national, as she sits on the ground without showing any kind of resistance. 

She raises up her arms and takes off her glasses. Then receives one last blow to the head before an officer finally handcuffs her.

The facts surrounding the incident, which happened on Wednesday, are still vague. 

Italian media report it started when concerned parents called the police, saying the woman was exhibiting odd and potentially threatening behaviour in front of a school. However, authorities claim she was not harassing the children. 

Euronews cannot verify at this stage what happened. 

The clip - shared widely on social media - has sparked widespread condemnation in Italy, with some setting the beating of the trans woman against the anti-LGBT stance of Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.

Some claim Meloni - who ran for election in 2022 with the slogan “I’m a woman, I’m a mother, I’m Christian” - has helped create a hostile space for Italy's LGBT+ community. 

She has repeatedly attacked what she called the “LGBT lobby” since taking office, claiming gender differences are “rooted in the body and that this is an incontrovertible fact”. 

Meloni previously said the only real family is the traditional nuclear one, made up of a man and a woman.

In March, Meloni said she was “concerned” about the impact of what she called “genderism” on women’s rights, calling women “the first victims” of “gender ideology”. 

Yet, the Italian Prime Minister's remarks are disputed by