Circolo di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli

The Circolo di Cultura Omosessuale Mario Mieli was founded in Rome in April 1983, named for the Italian philosopher-activist Mario Mieli (1952-1983), whose book *Elementi di critica omosessuale* (1977) is a founding text of Italian queer theory and who took his own life two months before the association was founded. The Circolo has operated continuously for 42 years. The Circolo's scope combines political advocacy (the association drafted the campaigns that produced Italy's 2016 civil-partnership law), HIV/AIDS support (from 1985, including anonymous testing at the Rome premises), youth outreach, and cultural programming — Rome Pride, running annually since 1994, is a Circolo-organised event that has grown to draw approximately 500,000 attendees per year to what is now Italy's largest LGBTQ+ demonstration. Since 1993 the Circolo has occupied a ground-floor premises at Via Efeso 2/A in the Garbatella district — a converted commercial space with counselling rooms, a small library of roughly 4,000 Italian-language LGBTQ+ volumes, meeting rooms for the association's 20+ member groups, and the offices of the Roma Pride organising committee. Open Monday-Friday evenings for drop-in programmes; specific counselling by appointment. Garbatella metro is a five-minute walk. The Garbatella neighbourhood — laid out in 1920s garden-city style — is worth the visit on its own architectural merits. Combine with Coming Out bar (Colosseo area, see separate entry) 15 minutes by tram east for a broader Rome heritage evening.