Lorenzo Fontana was born in Verona, Veneto, in 1980. He graduated in Political Science at the University of Padua and in Christian History at the European University of Rome. In 2002 he was elected vice-secretary of the Young Padanians Movement, the League's youth wing. After being elected to Verona city council, in 2009 he was elected to the European Parliament. In 2012, he was the head of the League's group in the European Parliament. From 2009 to 2014, he was also vice-president of the Committee on Culture and Education. During the 8th legislature, he was also the supervisor of the cooperation deal between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Europol. Fontana was re-elected to the 2014 European election, becoming a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs and of the Delegation for Relations with Iraq. On 26 February 2016, he was appointed by Matteo Salvini as Deputy Federal Secretary of the Northern League together with Giancarlo Giorgetti. On 8 July 2017 he became deputy mayor of Verona. At the 2018 Italian general election Fontana was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. From April to August 2018 he served as one of the vice-presidents of the Chamber. On 1 May 2018, Fontana was appointed Minister of Family and Disability in the government of Giuseppe Conte. In August 2018, Fontana called for the repeal of the 1993 Mancino Act, which criminalises hate speech, claiming the law was being used by "globalists" to promote "anti-Italian racism". In March 2019 he helped organize the anti-gay, anti-feminist and anti-abortion World Congress of Families in Verona, to the point of authorizing the use of the logo of Giuseppe Conte's administrative office in order to promote the event without the prime minister's permission. On 10 July 2019, Fontana was appointed Italy's Minister of European Affairs.
Political views
Fontana is widely considered an ultraconservative. He calls himself a "" who fights against abortion, same-sex civil unions and stepchild adoption, which he considers as a "weakening of the family". He is also against "pro-LGBT" sexual education, stating that Vladimir Putin's Russia "is the reference for those who believe in a nationalist model of society". On 2 June 2018, the day after becoming minister, he added that "gay families do not exist". He opposes illegal immigrationto Italy, claiming it to be a serious threat that "aims to erase the Italian people along with their communities and traditions", along with "gay marriages and the so-called gender theory in schools". Fontana is married and has one daughter. He is a Roman Catholic.
