Quoted: the chairman of Barilla suggests gay people buy another brand of pasta

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I would never do [a commercial] with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect but because we don’t agree with them. Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role...[If gays] like our pasta and our advertising, they’ll eat our pasta, if they don’t like it then they will not eat it and they will eat another brand.

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—Guido Barilla, chairman of an eponymous and ubiquitous line of Italiante foodstuffs, on how he prefers to advertise his products. He dropped this choice quote yesterday during an interview with Radio 24, also mentioning that he opposes adoption by gay parents, but supports gay marriage, which remains outlawed in Italy (the interview can be heard here, in Italian). Among those taking Barilla’s advice to eat non-Barilla pasta is Aurelio Mancuso, head of gay rights group Equality Italia. “We accept the invitation from the Barilla owner to not eat his pasta,” Mancuso said, and went on to to describe Barilla’s comments as “offensive provocation.” The flare-up has led to outrage and, unsurprisingly, a boycott of Barilla pasta in Europe. [Grub Street]