Dolce & Gabbana designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have responded to the backlash over statements they made about same-sex families, saying that their views are just “traditional” and not judgmental.
The pair had caused outrage when they declared last week in an interview with Italy’s Panorama: “The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.”
LGBT news Italia called for a boycott of the iconic brand, which was followed up with support from both gay and straight celebrities including Elton John.
Today, The Huffington Post obtained a response from the designers: “We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it,” Gabbana said. “We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people’s choices. We do believe in freedom and love.”
Dolce attributed his viewpoints to his upbringing: “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 of the fact that there are other types of families and they are as legitimate as the one I’ve known. But in my personal experience, family had a different configuration. That is the place where I learnt the values of love and family. This is the reality in which I grew up, but it does not imply that I don’t understand different ones. I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people’s choices and decisions.”
