Tens of thousands of Italians gathered in Rome's Circus Maximus on Saturday, protesting Prime Minister Matteo Renzi-led government's initiative to give legal recognition to same-sex unions.
The organizers of the protest rally, or "Family Day," claimed that up to 2 million people had attended the rally, according to BBC News.
"We cannot let children pay for the desires or caprices of adults. Children need to have a father and a mother. We want the whole law to be withdrawn, no ifs and no buts," organizer Simone Pillon said during the rally, DW reported.
Renzi's government is supporting a proposed bill that grants family rights to same-sex couples. It also gives limited adoption rights to same-sex couples.
"I think the kids' rights should come first, before the rights of adults who are free to do whatever they want. It is a fact. Nature dictates that a baby comes from a man and a woman," a young women protester said, according to euronews.
The proposed bill was introduced to the Senate on Thursday, and the Senate will vote on it in mid-February. The contested bill will go to the lower house of the Parliament for approval if Senate passes it. The draft legislation was first placed on the table of the Italian Parliament in October last year.