1. Vladimir Luxuria was the first openly transgender member of Parliament in Europe, and the world's second openly transgender MP after New Zealander Georgina Beyer.
20 Facts About Vladimir Luxuria
1. 2.
Vladimir Luxuria lost her seat in the election of April 2008.
3.
Vladimir Luxuria began to act, notably in cabaret, and through this developed her gender ambiguity as a hallmark.
4.
Vladimir Luxuria earned her first acting credit in Cena alle nove by Paolo Breccia in 1991; and began organizing parties and gay pride events, becoming director of the Muccassassina, the self-financing party of the Circle of homosexual culture Mario Mieli.
5.
Vladimir Luxuria graduated in foreign languages and literatures at University of Rome La Sapienza with a master thesis on Joseph Conrad.
6.
Vladimir Luxuria organized Italy's first pride festival, in Rome on 2 June 1994, which attracted some ten thousand people.
7.
Vladimir Luxuria became well known for participating in charity organizations before making the transition to politics.
8.
Vladimir Luxuria identifies using the English word "transgender" and prefers feminine pronouns, titles, and adjectives.
9.
Vladimir Luxuria said of her victory that "The Italian public has shown itself to be more forward-looking than our politicians, who thought I would turn up in parliament dressed like Cicciolina".
10.
Vladimir Luxuria was chosen to host the 2012 edition of the Italian TV program L'Isola dei Famosi, on RaiDue.
11.
However, Vladimir Luxuria's name was placed second on the list of Communist candidates for Lazio, after party leader Fausto Bertinotti, which increased her chances of being elected.
12.
The politicians in question were suspended by AN; Vladimir Luxuria criticized the police for the time it took for them to respond to the incident.
13.
Vladimir Luxuria declared that she had used the toilets for years and that using the male lavatory would engender even greater problems.
14.
Paolo Ferrero, then leader of the Communist Refoundation Party, said that he would be open to the idea of her returning to politics as a nominee for the 2009 European Parliament election after her win on L'Isola dei Famosi, but Vladimir Luxuria said that she had no plans to re-enter politics.
15.
Vladimir Luxuria has long been a strong advocate for gay rights and a participant in events promoting equality for homosexuals.
16.
Vladimir Luxuria helped organize Italy's first gay pride festival in 1994 and continued her activism throughout her tenure as a politician; in May 2007, she took part in the second Muscovite gay pride parade.
17.
Vladimir Luxuria used her prominence in Italian politics once elected as a platform for advocating gay rights.
18.
Vladimir Luxuria campaigned prior to the elections for gays to have cohabitation rights, and had helped the campaign by winning the support of Italy's left.
19.
Furthermore, Vladimir Luxuria outlined her long-term support for full gay marriage rights, comparable with Spain's implementation of the law.
20.
Vladimir Luxuria reacted to Pope Benedict XVI's end-of-year speech in 2008, when he compared protecting the environment with saving humanity from a "blurring of gender", by saying that such comments were "hurtful".