As we covered yesterday, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce said some really stupid/harsh things about gay parents and children born via IVF or surrogacy. The crux of Dolce & Gabbana’s argument was simple enough, in an old-world, Catholic, very conservative way: the argument was that gay parents are not as good as straight parents, because children need a mother and a father. That argument has made by many people, and for the record, it’s utter BS. But Stefano and Domenico took their argument WAY too far. This is what they said:

Gabbana said: “The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.” Dolce added independently, “You are born to a mother and a father — or at least that’s how it should be. I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Rented uterus, semen chosen from a catalog.”

[Via Us Weekly]

Elton John threw a fit and called for a boycott of D&G. Other celebrities joined Elton. And now Stefano Gabbana answers their critics in a new interview. It’s actually pretty funny – they said something wildly offensive, and when people were like “what the hell?” Gabbana is like “OMG FASCISM!!!”

Gabbana says: “We have always lived our sexuality privately, we have never shouted it out. They’re just putting words into our mouths, now. They’re saying we are against gay parenting. It’s not true. Domenico only expressed his opinion about the traditional family and about In Vitro Fertilisation. If someone else wants to make different choices, fine, they are free to do it. We demand the same respect.”

On Elton John’s boycott: “I didn’t expect this. I didn’t expect this, coming from someone whom I considered, and I stress “considered”, an intelligent person like Elton John. I mean, you preach understanding, tolerance and then you attack others? Only because someone has a different opinion? Is this a democratic or enlightened way of thinking? This is ignorance, because he ignores the fact that others might have a different opinion and that theirs is as worthy of respect as his… It’s an authoritiarian way of seeing the world: agree with me or, if you don’t, I’ll attack you. I even posted the word “Fascist!” on his Instagram.”

The reaction to the interview: “That’s weird. Nobody actually read the interview! It would have been enough to read it with an open mind to realize that this whole racket is based on nothing. The interview was used as an excuse to put into our mouths words we never really said. We are about freedom. Anyone can make the choices they want. Domenico has his ideas, he made some choices. Elton John made different choices. Different choices, different lives. Equal respect. What I see, particularly online, is a lot of gay people who are homophobic: gay people who will attack other gay people who express ideas that are different from theirs.”

Gabbana on Dolce’s comment ‘I’m gay, I cannot have children’: “That’s it! It’s not a big deal. Domenico said that he’d rather have a traditional family. It’s his opinion. He’s not comfortable with IVF. It’s all about his traditional Sicilian upbringing. I have a different opinion. We have mutual respect.”

[From Corriere]

I don’t think this would have blown up the way it did, and I don’t believe Elton John would have called for a boycott, if Dolce & Gabbana had simply stated their old-world views about gay families. People would have been offended, for sure, and there would have been some blow-back. But what really pissed people off was the stuff about “synthetic children” and “chemical offsprings.” Instead of simply saying “eh, not for me,” they insulted every family (gay, straight and other) by saying that those children weren’t real because they weren’t conceived naturally.

Oh, and check out Dolce & Gabbana’s latest ad campaign. Family values, y’all.

Photos courtesy of WENN.