Queen of England.
Posted on 03/16/2015 11:27:35 AM PDT by Drango
Fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are locked in a very public argument with musician Elton John over their recent remarks condemning in vitro fertilization and saying same-sex couples should not raise children.
After John called for a boycott of the designers' clothes, Gabbana defended his right to air an opinion and urged people to shun the singer, responding to John's Instagram post by commenting, "Fascist!!"
The dueling boycotts were sparked by controversial comments Dolce and Gabbana made in an interview with Italy's Panorama magazine. In it, they said (translations via Britain's The Telegraph):
"We oppose gay adoptions. The only family is the traditional one." "You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that's how it should be," Dolce said. "I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog." Gabbana: "The family is not a fad. In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging." Both Dolce and Gabbana are gay; for decades, the business partners were also a couple. And as the BBC reports, they "have rejected same-sex marriage in the past."
John and his longtime partner David Furnish married in December; they are raising two children who were conceived through IVF.
Declaring a boycott of the Italians' products Sunday, John left no doubt about where he stands.
"How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic,' " he wrote on an Instagram post featuring a photo of the designers. Calling IVF a "miracle" that has helped many couples have children, John concluded, "Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again."
Celebrities and many of John's fans quickly took up the call, prompting Gabbana to respond with more than a dozen of his own Instagram posts in which he defended his company and his right to speak — and repeated calls to #BoycottEltonJohn.
Gabbana tells Italy's Corriere Della Sera that he's not serious about the call for a boycott. Saying that the comments about parenthood were taken out of context, he also says he's still unhappy with the singer's reaction: "It's an authoritarian way of looking at things. If you agree with me, fine. If not, I'll hammer you."
Responding to the uproar more directly Monday, Gabbana issued a statement via Instagram saying, "We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices."
He added, "We do believe in freedom and love."
In another statement, Dolce wrote, "I'm Sicilian and I grew up in a traditional family, made up of a mother, a father and children. I am very well aware that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I've known." He continued, "But in my personal experience, family had a different configuration."
Monday morning, the hashtag #BoycottDolceGabbana topped the trending list on Twitter in the U.S.; the same hashtag quickly worked its way up the list of other "boycott" tags on Instagram. When we checked its popularity, it was between the campaigns #boycottclippers and #boycottisraelapartheid.
Popcorn
Its tough to see someone who’s work you used to enjoy reduced to a silly parody.
...Every child deserves a biological Mother and a biological Father
I’m gonna buy Orville Redenbacher stock. There may not be enough popcorn in the world for this.
Part of the modern gay rage is a refusal to recognize how self destructive it is to throw stones in glass houses. What happens when people's appetite for appeasement finally comes to an end?
This may be a popcorn party to some. I’m musing over how big a miracle it is for Messrs. Dolce and Gabbana to actually have publicly recognized this. They have been there done that, they tried being a couple and realized it was as phoney as a $3 bill.
HEY!!!!!!!
Just kidding. I know what you mean. I just couldn't resist my chance to be "offended" ;)
Queen of England.
That is one scary, ridiculous looking boy/girl~~
I love some Elton John music, but I’ll rooting for both of them to slap each other senseless.
But I guess childen don't have any rights that can trump the decisions of a rich and powerful man who wants what he wants.
when I see pictures of those little boys, I always feel sad for them, that they will never have a mother
all the fabulous wealth in the world, and no Mom
how many people would trade their mothers and choose to be adopted by 2 rich gay men?
no it’s not “the same” and yes, these children were designed, not adopted
In the Brit rag Dailymail comments about Sir Elton’s hissy fit are overwhelming negative
Yeah, imagine my surprise when I found out there are actually groups opposed to traditional adoption...IN PRINCIPLE!!!!!!!
Chick fight!...
Popcorn!
Hell hath no fury like an old queen scorned.
I knew a tough cowboy back in Kansas who loved Elton’s music. But he almost had a heart attack when he found out more about the artist.
Pillow fight.
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