Celebs boycott Dolce and Gabbana over gay families comments

A furious Elton John has lashed out at Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana over their comments that gay families are unnatural.

The gay fashion icons, who were romantically involved for 19 years before breaking up as a couple in 2005, told Panorama magazine last week that they “oppose gay adoptions” and that gay families are “a fad.”

The duo said: “The only family is the traditional one… No chemical offsprings and rented uteri. Life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed.”

Dolce added: “You are born to a mother and a father – or at least that’s how it should be. I call [them] children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri [for] rent, semen chosen from a catalogue.”

John, who has two children through a surrogate, responded angrily to the comments on Instagram over the weekend.

“How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘synthetic'” he said. “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.”

The singer concluded: “I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana ever again. #BoycottDolceGabbana.”

Other celebrities have now gone on to slam the designers. Ricky Martin, who is also raising two boys born through a surrogate, tweeted: “@dolcegabbana ur voices R 2powerfull 2B spreading so much h8… Wake up, Its 2015 Luv urselves guys #boycottdolcegabbana”

Courtney Love Cobain commented on Twitter: “I just round up all my Dolce & Gabbana items and want to burn them. I’m just beyond words…” while tennis legend Martina Navratilova said: “Right on Elton and David. My D&G shirts are going in the bin- don’t want ANYONE to wear them.”

Actress Sharon Stone simply tweeted: “#boycottdolceandgabbana.”

On Sunday, the designers issued a statement reacting to the furore. Dolce said that, “I was talking about my personal view, without judging other people’s choices and decisions.” Gabbana added: “We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people’s choices. We do believe in freedom and love.”

Dolce and Gabbana are known for dressing celebrities such as Madonna and Beyoncé. They founded their fashion house in Milan in 1985 and now employ more than 3,000 people and have 250 shops in 40 countries around the world.