By Ciaran Lovejoy
Recent remarks by fashion icons Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have landed them in hot water with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender communities (LGBT+) and caused music legend Elton John to call for a boycott of their brand.
The pair’s comments in Italian magazine Panorama referred to children born via In-Vitro-Fertilisation as “Synthetic” and implied that the children could be faced with psychological issues in the future. In it they said: “Wombs for rent, sperm chosen from a catalogue…psychiatrists are not ready to confront the effects of this experimentation.”
Sir Elton John began the Hashtag campaign #BoycottDolceGabbana on Twitter in response to the comments, calling for everyone to stop buying from the popular fashion brand.
Sir Elton also left a message for the designers on Instagram voicing hisoutrage: “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘Synthetic’. And shame on you for wagging your judgemental little fingers at IVF – a miracle that has allowed legions of loving people, both straight and gay, to fulfil their dream of having children. Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again.”
Tim Deves, of the De Montfort LGBT+ Society, said: “Honestly, I feel they have the right to hold an opinion, but they appear to be very ignorant and inconsiderate to not only the gay community, but the people who do choose to adopt or have children via IVF.As gay men themselves they should be aware how much damage comment like their own have on the gay community.”
His own opinion was far from Dolce’s and Gabbana’s: “We should be working together to raise acceptance of gay parenting, and comments like these are incredibly damaging, and certainly do help the cause against gay parenting. I am certainly glad a vast number of celebrities, gay and straight, are raising their voices against Dolce & Gabbana and boycotting them.”
When asked if the Society would partake in the boycott, his reply was typically light-hearted: “As far as I am aware none of us have enough money to go out each week, let alone buy Dolce & Gabbana, but if we did we would certainly choose to boycott them.
“We can’t show support for such ill informed views. I hope they release a public statement addressing their ignorance and apologising for any offence caused!”
