Italy: Party attacked for ‘no to gay adoption’ photo
An Italian photographer has criticized a far-right group for using one of his photographs for an anti-gay campaign.
The Brothers of Italy party, which has 9 MPs in Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, published a photo of two same-sex couples holding a baby to Twitter last week with the caption “A baby is not a whim – no adoption for the gays”.
Ma cosa salta in testa a @FratellidItaIia di usare una mia fotografia per una cosa del genere? Verranno denunciati. pic.twitter.com/1MzTsu4nto
— oliviero toscani (@OToscani) August 31, 2014
However, Oliviero Toscani, who took the original photo for a pro-gay rights campaign, claims the group did not have his permission to reuse the image for a homophobic message.
According to the Local, he said: “Why would you use one of my pictures for such a thing?
“The photo was used in the opposite way.
“They were editorial photos to explain the various possibilities of a family for a French newspaper. They instead used them in an ignorant way.”
A party spokesperson apologised for the incident, saying: “We apologize for what happened because we respect the author’s copyright.”
Last week, a lesbian couple in Italy became the first to be allowed to adopt a child by a court.
Italy is home to a large Catholic population, and lags behind other European countries on LGBT rights, with gay couples having no legal recognition, rights to adopt, and limited protection from discrimination.
