Ex-minister comes out as gay on Italian TV

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 8 - An ex-minister came out as gay on an Italian TV show on Sunday saying that those in the public eye had an extra responsibility to defend gay rights.
    Vincenzo Spadafora, a 5-Star Movement (M5S) MP and former minister for youth policy, said on Che Tempo Che Fa on Rai3 that "I think those with a public role, a political role, have some more responsibility".
    He said he had been prompted to come out by two reasons.
    "One is to bear witness to my political commitment, and the other is being deeply Catholic," he said.
    Spadafora said the political world was no stranger to gay slurs.
    "In politics homosexuality is used to wound and undermine people, with whispering campaigns that I wanted to snuff out.
    "Now, perhaps, I'll be happier because I will feel freer".
    (ANSA).