The mayor of Venice has said he never wants to see a Gay Pride parade take place in the city.
Luigi Brugnaro, a businessman who was elected mayor on a centre-right ticket in June, told la Repubblica daily that gay pride marches were the "height of kitsch".
“There will never be a Gay Pride in my city,” he was quoted as saying. “Let them go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes.”
Italy’s rights group Arcigay holds Gay Pride parades in many Italian cities each year, last visiting Venice in 2014. It denounced Brugnaro’s comments, accusing 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 president Flavio Romani. “He is becoming obsessive about this. Venice does not deserve it.”
Brugnaro sparked a controversy soon after taking office by banning books featuring same-sex couples from the city schools.
Elton John, who has two children with his partner David Furnish, used his Instagram page this month to condemn the move, calling Brugnaro “boorishly bigoted”.
The mayor told the singer to keep out of Venice’s business.