Pictures: Protest outside Dolce and Gabbana’s London store
Around a hundred people protested outside Dolce and Gabbana over the fashion designers’ controversial comments.
The protest was organised by The Peter Tatchell Foundation, and condemning the Italian fashion designers for their objection to gay parents, IVF and surrogacy.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “It is hypocritical for Stefano Gabbana to oppose gay parents, given that in 2006 he expressed a desire to have a child via artificial insemination and surrogacy. He’s guilty of double standards. Gabbana wanted for himself what he now condemns other gay men for wanting.
“These comments are not only an attack on same-sex parents but on all parents who’ve had children with the aid of fertility treatment, including thousands of heterosexual couples.
“Dolce and Gabbana are echoing ill-informed, outdated and homophobic prejudices about gay parents. Research spanning 40 years shows that children bought up by gay mums and dads are just as happy and well-adjusted as those from traditional heterosexual families. The key to a child’s welfare is the love of their parents, not the parent’s sexual orientation.”
Mr Tatchell also urged others to join the boycott of Dolce and Gabbana products, initially called for by Sir Elton John, who has two children with husband David Furnish, both conceived with IVF.
He said: “Dolce and Gabbana are entitled to their views but we are entitled to protest against them. We urge everyone – gay and straight – to boycott their clothes.
“It’s intolerable for these designers to make millions out of the gay community and then turn around and insult our families. They’ve stabbed us in the back.
“Dolce and Gabbana have been exploiting the gay market for decades. Having made their millions, they seem happy to trash loving, responsible same-sex parents and their children.
