Barilla boycott

When I heard of this yesterday I didn't think too much of it. Looked then like a bit of a slip of the tongue. But honestly the more this guy opens his mouth the worse he makes it.

It started with it's chairman Guido Barilla on the radio where he said this:

“We won’t include gays in our ads, because we like the traditional family. If gays don’t like it, they can always eat another brand of pasta. Everyone is free to do what they want, provided it doesn’t bother anyone else.” more

Um, well I'm not going around demanding gays be in every add that comes out, but still that's a bit rough isn't it saying straight out that you won't put any  gays in an add? Why single gays out? Why not say there won't be any black people in an add then? Same thing. But oh well the gay outrage seemed a touch over the top on this one.

But the next day he said this:

“With reference to statements made yesterday, I apologize if my words have generated controversy or misunderstanding, or if they have hurt the sensibilities of some people. In the interview I simply wanted to highlight the central role of the woman in the family.” more

The idiot doesn't know when to shut his mouth. His damage control has made it worse. I wonder how women feel being classified as as being the central role in the kitchen family? 

Well that's enough for me. I'm accepting the Barilla invitation to eat someone else's brand of pasta. They can take their traditional pasta and keep it in their "traditional" bigotry. 

Needless to say there has been a boycott of Barilla started in Italy. Even the politicians over there are getting on the bandwagon:

Italian activists and politicians launched a boycott of products from Barilla, the world's largest pasta producer, shortly after company president Guido Barilla said Thursday he would never show gay families in advertisements. "We accept his invitation to not eat his pasta," said Aurelio Mancuso, president of gay-rights group Equality Italia, in response to Barilla's remarks that gays could eat another pasta if they didn't like his message. Barilla made his statements on the Italian morning radio program La Zanzara. By midday, the hashtag #boicottabarilla (boycottbarilla) was trending on Twitter, thanks in part to outrage voiced by some Italian politicians. "Here we have another example of homophobia, Italian style," said Alessandro Zan, an MP with the left-wing SEL party. more

Yeah, it may look to some a bit over the top, but FFS, but what else have we got? Hit the bigots where it counts; the hip pocket nerve. Imagine if it was any other minority, like Jews, blacks, whatever, there'd be an outcry from all. But because it's just us gays then they think it's OK to discriminate.

Edit:

It just got worse. This is the entire quote from Mr Barilla: 

"We have a slightly different culture," Barilla said, per a Huffington Post translation of the interview. "For us, the 'sacral family' remains one of the company’s core values. Our family is a traditional family. If gays like our pasta and our advertisings, they will eat our pasta; if they don’t like that, they will eat someone else’s pasta. You can’t always please everyone not to displease anyone. I would not do a commercial with a homosexual family, not for lack of respect toward homosexuals – who have the right to do whatever they want without disturbing others – but because I don’t agree with them, and I think we want to talk to traditional families. The women are crucial in this."

Barilla said he respects people's right to do what they want without disturbing others, but that he does not agree with gay adoption.

"I respect same-sex marriage because that concerns people who want to contract marriage, but I absolutely don’t respect adoptions in gay families, because that concerns a person who is not the people who decide," he added. more

He doesn't agree with gay adoption either.

Again, what if this was any other minority? This from GLAAD in the same article:

"These insulting anti-gay comments will not only lead to LGBT people skipping Barilla in favor of more inclusive brands like Bertolli, but their family members, friends and co-workers as well. Homophobia is bad for business - plain and simple. Mr. Barilla's opinion is ill informed, and he will soon learn that the new traditional family accepts gay and lesbian families and does not support companies that promote discrimination." more