ITALY: Venice Mayor Bans Pride Parades

The mayor of Venice has declared that he will not allow tacky gay pride parades in his city. The Guardian reports:

Luigi Brugnaro, a businessman who was elected mayor on a centre-right ticket in June, was quoted as saying that gay pride marches were the “height of kitsch” and would not happen in Venice on his watch. “There will never be a gay pride in my city,” he was quoted as saying in La Repubblica. “Let them go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes.” Brugnaro, who had a public row this month with British rock star Elton John over family values, was criticised by Italy’s rights group Arcigay, which accused him of besmirching Venice’s reputation as an open, sophisticated society. “Venice is not his city. At the moment he is governing it, but he won’t last long given the fool he is making of himself,” said Arcigay’s president, Flavio Romani. “He is becoming obsessive about this. Venice does not deserve it.” Arcigay holds gay pride parades in numerous Italian cities each year, last visiting Venice in 2014. Brugnaro sparked a controversy soon after taking office by banning books featuring same-sex couples from the city schools.

Brugnaro was elected with the support of the right wing party Forza Italia, which is attempting to block a civil unions bill in the national legislature.