Biography

Vladimir Luxuria (Italian pronunciation: [ˈvlaːdimir luˈksuːrja]; born 24 June 1965), is an Italian activist, television personality and actress. Luxuria was a Communist Refoundation Party MP, belonging to The Union coalition led by Romano Prodi.

She was the first openly transgender member of Parliament in Europe, and the world's second openly transgender MP after New Zealander Georgina Beyer. She lost her seat in the election of April 2008.

In the 2006 general election, Luxuria was elected to the Chamber of Deputies by the Lazio 1 constituency in Rome. She lost her seat in the 2008 election. After the retirement of Beyer and Luxuria, there were no transgender MPs reported in the world, until 2011, when Anna Grodzka was elected to the Polish parliament. Born in Foggia, Apulia, Luxuria moved to Rome in 1985 to study foreign languages and literature. She also began to act, notably in cabaret, and through this developed her gender ambiguity as a hallmark. Her assumed surname, Luxuria, means lust in Latin. She 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. She graduated in foreign languages and literatures at University of Rome La Sapienza with a master thesis on Joseph Conrad.She organized Italy's first pride festival, in Rome on 2 June 1994, which attracted some ten thousand people. From 2001 to 2003 she toured Italian theatres with the musical Emotions co-starring with Sabrina Salerno and Ambra Angiolini.

Her career as a performer was not restricted to stage shows, and in 2005 she hosted a television show about nostalgia for 1980s music and culture on All Music. She also became well-known for participating in charity organizations before making the transition to politics.

Luxuria identifies using the English word "transgender" and prefers feminine pronouns, titles, and adjectives. She has stated on occasion that she perceives herself as neither male nor female. Upon entering parliament, she made the decision to stop wearing her trademark drag clothing – an extravagant cocktail of sequins, feather boas and bouffant wigs – saying that the legislature was "not a discothèque" and that, "It wouldn't be useful to provoke [people] in such a stupid way".After her bid for re-election failed in April 2008, Luxuria appeared on L'Isola dei Famosi, which has been described as "Italy's celebrity answer to Survivor". The show, which saw her pip Argentine model and showgirl Belen Rodriguez (former girlfriend of Italy footballer Marco Borriello) to first place in a public poll, took place in Honduras. 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 (former porn-star politician) Cicciolina". Pledging to donate half of her €200,000 prize money to charity, Luxuria chose UNICEF, saying "I know that I won't have children and I want to help disadvantaged children in my own way".She was chosen to host the 2012 edition of the Italian TV program L'Isola dei Famosi, on RaiDue.

In 2017, in an interview with Mauro Leonardi for an Italian weekly (Novella 2000), told for the first time her conversion to Catholicism. The interview has aroused media hype and, during a broadcast on Rai 1, she reiterated the content of her statements, as well as in an interview in 2022.