Elton slammed as a "Taliban" in Italy over D&G!

Elton John slammed as 'a Taliban' in Italy over Dolce & Gabbana row

Conservative politician compares Elton John's call for boycott on Dolce & Gabbana to the attitudes that led to the Charlie Hebdo massacre ...

Sir Elton John was described as "a Taliban" by Italian politicians on Monday after criticizing Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's opposition to assisted fertility.

In an interview with an Italian magazine, the Italian fashion duo described children born through IVF as "synthetic" and said that despite being gay they supported "traditional" families where children have a mother and a father.

Sir Elton, 67, backed by a host of celebrities including Ricky Martin and Martina Navratilova, responded by calling for a boycott of Dolce and Gabbana clothing.

"How dare you refer to my beautiful children as 'synthetic'. And shame on you for wagging your judgmental little fingers at IVF – a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children," Sir Elton, who has two children with his husband, David Furnish, wrote on Instagram.

But conservative politicians in Italy swiftly rallied behind Dolce and Gabbana, accusing the British performer of trying to stamp out freedom of expression.

 

(Roberto Formigoni)

"I'm with Dolce and Gabbana and I applaud their courageous statement, this is freedom of expression," Roberto Formigoni, a senator with the New Centre Right, said as the row continued to make headlines around the world.

"The campaign launched against the two stylists by Elton John is shameful and intolerable. Elton John is a Taliban, he is using against Dolce and Gabbana the same methods used by the Taliban against (the French satirical magazine) Charlie Hebdo."

The offices of the magazine in Paris were attacked in January by two Islamist extremists, neither of whom was connected to the Taliban, but the senator appeared to be using the word in broad terms to denote deep intolerance.

"The opinions of Dolce and Gabbana are significant because they are both homosexual and they think along the same lines as the majority of Italians. A child needs a mother and a father, full stop," said Mr Formigoni, a former ally of Silvio Berlusconi, the disgraced conservative prime minister, who has often made off colour jokes about homosexuals.

Carlo Giovanardi, another senator with the New Centre Right, said: "The gay Taliban are trying to boycott Dolce and Gabbana just because they dared to say that ... every child has a right to a mother and a father."

"Elton John is an intolerant person who wants to block anyone who thinks differently to him," said Elvira Savino, an MP with Mr Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.

"The fatwa against Dolce and Gabbana is really hysterical and surprisingly un-British."

She feared the boycott against the Italian fashionistas might be "a premeditated action to damage one of the most famous exponents of 'made in Italy' in the world."

Forza Nuova, another right-wing party, said it would offer the Italian fashion designers honorary membership in solidarity with their support for traditional families.

(Elvira Savino)

The party urged "all Italians to boycott Elton John, the international head of this racist, homosexual lobby which wants to undermine the natural order of things," said its secretary, Roberto Fiore.