Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa has
come under fire for saying that he would be saddened if one of
his children came out as gay in an interview with Rai
television.
The Inter-supporting member of Premier Giorgia Meloni's
right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, said it would be like
having a son who "supports AC Milan, is different to me.
"A heterosexual father would want his son to be like him," he
added.
In the same interview, which is set to be screened on Tuesday,
he said that "the aesthetic level of right-wing women has
fallen, while their quality, their capability, has increased".
Opposition politicians expressed indignation at the comments.
"The State's second-highest official has insulted women and
homosexuals," Alessandra Moretti, an MEP for the centre-left
Democratic Party (PD), said via Twitter.
"Rights are at great risk with this government.
"I say to La Russa that all children are equal: simply children.
Whatever their sexual orientation, the colour of their skin or
their religious beliefs".
Senator Silvia Fregolent of the centrist Azione/Italia
Viva/Renew Europe group, said La Russa had "forgotten" that he
was the State's second highest official and "pulled off the
miraculous feat of expressing himself inadequately about women
and homosexuals in the same interview.
"I don't know whether to hope that the Senate Speaker's comments
are fruit of the desire to make a joke of everything or they
really match his thoughts," Fregolent said.
"Either way, we should be worried".
After he furore broke out, La Russa stressed that having a gay
son would only sadden him "little " and would not be a problem.
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