Francesca Pascale, a former long-time partner of the late Italian tycoon and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has launched a new initiative called “Gay Conservatives”, aimed at creating space for LGBT voices within Italy’s centre-right political sphere.
Born in 1985, Pascale first entered the public spotlight through her relationship with Berlusconi, which began in the early 2010s and made her a familiar presence in Italy’s political and media landscape. The relationship lasted for around a decade before ending in 2020.
The separation was widely reported in the Italian press as amicable and accompanied by a private financial settlement. Pascale was said to have received a package estimated at around €20 million, alongside an annual allowance of approximately €1 million and continued use of a villa in northern Italy.
The arrangement was never formally detailed by either party and remains based on press reporting.
Following the end of her relationship with Berlusconi, Pascale gradually repositioned her private life and public profile, becoming increasingly vocal on LGBT issues. In 2022, she entered into a same-sex civil union with singer-songwriter Paola Turci in a ceremony held in Tuscany, an event widely covered in the Italian press. The relationship later ended, with reports of a subsequent separation.
Against this backdrop, Pascale has now introduced the Gay Conservatives initiative, which she presents as a platform for LGBT individuals who feel politically aligned with conservative or liberal-conservative values.
The project aims to encourage greater engagement by centre-right parties in Italy on issues such as equality and gender identity, traditionally associated with progressive movements.
According to its stated objectives, the initiative seeks to create a political and cultural platform for LGBT voices within the centre-right, with the goal of increasing engagement by right-leaning parties on LGBT issues.
The initiative is expected to be formally presented at a public event in Naples in June 2026 and is reportedly attempting to engage well-known figures from Italy’s centre-right.
It is not yet clear what political backing the project will attract. Critics have described it as an attempt to build a lobbying platform for LGBT issues within the political Right.
While still in its early stages and lacking the structure of a formal political party, Gay Conservatives has already attracted attention in Italian media for its attempt to bridge cultural and political divides within the centre-right, as well as for its potential to create tensions within Italy’s governing coalition on these issues.
