Elton John, Martina Navratilova and others are calling for a boycott of the Dolce and Gabbana fashion brand following yesterday's news that designers (and one-time couple) Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were again speaking out against same-sex parenting and had labelled children born through IVF "synthetic."
"The family is not a fad," Gabbana declared to Panorama magazine according to a Google translation of Spanish outlet ABC. "No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed."
Procreation “must be an act of love,” added Dolce. Children born through artificial insemination or egg donors are “children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteruses for rent, semen chosen from a catalog.”
John, who has two children born through IVF with husband David Furnish, responded with a fiery Instagram post writing:
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. #BoycottDolceGabbana
The Telegraph reports:
The row deepened when Gabbana, in an apparent response to Sir Elton's criticism, posted a picture (right) on Instagram of a child with its arms wrapped around its mother with the hashdags #dgmamma #dgfamily.
When a friend suggested that Sir Elton needed to "calm down", the designer agreed and accused him of being intolerant.
"It is simply arrogant not to tolerate those who think like him! poor thing!" he wrote.
He added: "We live in a democratic country and respect the ideas of others."
Out tennis legend Martina Navratilova is also joining the boycott, tweeting:
@mainerandy wow- I had no idea. It will be interesting to see if this ridiculousness hurts them in the bank. #BoycottDolceGabbana
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) March 14, 2015
Italian LGBT news outlet LGBT news Italia has called for a boycott of the D&G brand as well.
Update: D&G have apologized and the list of celebs joining #BoycottDolceGabbana grows.
