ITALY:
Yesterday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi defended his penchant for affairs with much younger women in front of a motorcycle industry trade show in Milan by basically saying that at least he’s not gay: “As always, I work without interruption and if occasionally I happen to look a beautiful girl in the face, it’s better to like beautiful girls than to be gay.”
Berlusconi faced criticism earlier this month for holding alleged orgies that he referred to as “bunga bunga” with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl (she withdrew her original claim over the weekend) and personally phoning the police on her behalf when she was arrested on suspicion of theft earlier this year.
Arcigay, an Italian LGBT rights group, has responded to the comments with the following statement:
“It is inacceptable that a Prime Minister, in an obvious situation of difficulties because of his senile passions, pronounces such a homophobic and vulgar nonsense statement, insulting lesbian, gay and trans. We are not willing to become the scapegoat of a weak Prime Minister that with this statement shows that he belongs to a really old culture. Silvio Berlusconi’s way of representing the institution dishonours Italy and his ‘macho latino’ rudeness is among the causes of the grotesque climate in the country.”
Arcigay has also called for an official apology. Meanwhile, Julianne Moore has called Berlusconi’s comments “unfortunate, archaic and idiotic.” At a press conference in Rome to promote The Kids Are All Right, she said, “To hint or to say that there is something wrong with homosexuality … it’s embarrassing when people continue to perpetrate these untruths.” (@ joemygod @nyt)
IT GETS BETTER:
CNBC’s Suze Orman just wants to take a few minutes to tell you she’s been gay since day one and the 50s ended and things got better. Highlight: “I am proud that I am a lesbian. I am proud that I am the personal finance expert of the world. I am proud of my accomplishments. But I am proud that I can stand in my truth and I am not afraid to tell anybody who I am.”
A DEGREE IN GAY:
The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, part of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. has established a minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender studies as the result of over a year of lobbying by student leaders and professors in a variety of departments. The new program will feature courses such as “Transnational Film and LGBTQ Culture” and will begin this spring. According to GW Hatchet, a campus paper, the program is a direct result of student initiatives and should appeal to both prospective career activists and the general student population.(@gwhatchet)
DANCE:
Two Israeli women — TV host Gili Shem Tov and professional dancer Dorit Milman — became the first same-sex couple to compete in an incarnation of “Dancing with the Stars” when the show, called Rokdim Im Kokhavim in Israel, launched its sixth season this week. Tov, who has a female partner, told the BBC: “I have realised that dance is about co-ordination and energy between two people, whether female or male. The challenge to dance with a woman in a public contest interested me because it’s unique and has never been done before. Because I share my life with a woman and have a family with her, to me this is the most natural thing to do.” She and her professional dancer partner will alternate leading roles. (@bbc)
Suze Orman rocks. You guys, if you’ve never watched her google talk, do! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzP866dtoe4
silvio berlusconi is full of shit, period.
In all honesty having Berlusconi say something bad about us makes US look good. NO ONE takes him seriously, he’s an idiot.
I am tempted to agree! I sense that the number of people willing to make homophobic comments at the moment is somewhat lower. I’m sure it will pick up again quickly, but still.
wait, i like beautiful girls and i’m gay. what does that even mean?
I think he lives in his own world. No idea if lesbians even exist there. You’re probs a mysterium of some sort.
In mainstream Italian culture “real lesbians” (ie those that do not fake it in order to please men) are poor, probably ugly women who have not had the luck of finding a man who took pity on them or something.
Unfortunately “his own world” is mainstream Italian culture at the moment. No surprise as he’s been controlling the media for the last 16 years and been an overall huge influence on shaping Italian culture through the media for the last THIRTY years.
Yep, that’s where we’re at.
We here on AS should change his BS to “Its better to like beautiful girls AND to be gay!” and make it our own. Hey, I just made my first comment,too.
Berlusconi is such a pompous ass, no matter what he does he gets away with it time and time again!! I heard that he’s in the process of bringing in a law that says no premier can be prosecuted in a court of law no matter what the crime is, and this is super convienient seeing as he’s being investigated for corruption!! Also he apparently owns pretty much all the media outlets in Italy, (all the tv stations bar one) so basically he owns a lot of the country and changes laws to suit himself, madness, cunning madness.
Exactly. Prime example of the importance of an independent, free media not in the pocket of a few big billionaires.
Also, I would have Julianne Moore’s babies. That is something I would be happy to do.
Exactly. What’s worse, such a huge amount of Italians like him, meaning they are vicariously living their fantasies through him. Women included.
It may get better elsewhere, but in Italy it’s getting worse. AND WORSE.
Oh, and a woman politician of his party, Daniela Santanché, has organized an event in his defence on the grounds that “I am NOT a homophobe, I am against discrimination, but obviously every parent hopes that their children are not gay BECAUSE every parent wants to become a grandparent”.
Who can count the correct number of absurdities contained in that sentence wins a cookie.
I can tell you that my mother’s dreams of being a grandmother certainly didn’t disappear when I came out. And not just because my brother is mostly attracted to women.
I am now very upset that I’m going to Italy next year. I think I’ll wear stuff with rainbows when we go to the vatican.
Italy is amazing and Italians are some of the most welcoming and generous people I’ve spent time with. And many of them can’t stand Berlusconi. So look forward to it!
But I do whole-heartedly agree with gaying up the Vatican.
Places I also plan to gay the shit out of:
Mount Vesuvius
Capri (Well lez it up since the gays are always there)
Sorrento
Any homophobic part of rome
The plane
Just thought you should know. As an afterthought, WHO WANTS TO MEET ME IN ITALY!?
When are you going? I’ll be there for a month in June – July before heading up to Scandinavia :)
I’m looking forward to queering Rome, Florence, Naples, Venice and the teeny tiny town my family emigrated from!
Sadly I’m going in february…
No, don’t be upset, Italy is a great country for holidays.
Whooo! Proud to be a GDub student. =)
I notice the girl in question was 17… so for Berlusconi, sleeping with people who are legally children >> being gay. Eurgh, could he be any more creepy if he tried, srsly.
Um, the >> was an attempted ‘greater than’ sign, you guys :)
Hold on, what? It’s okay for him to have affairs, because he’s not gay? …where did all the common sense go? Is it hiding somewhere? Has it been kidnapped? I feel like I need to go on a secret mission to find common sense and bring it home safe and sound. Anybody wanna come with me?
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