Madonna, IKEA and the Dolce & Gabbana feud

Your Daily Package of newsy and naughty bits from around the world


Dolce & Gabbana draw fire over criticism of gay families

Gay fashion designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are facing accusations of hypocrisy after they said in an interview that “the only family is the traditional one,” criticized gay adoption, and said that children produced by in vitro fertilization were “synthetic.” The comments lead to an angry Instagram argument with Elton John, and criticism from other celebrities including Courtney Love, who threatened to burn all her Dolce & Gabbana clothing.

IKEA shuts down Russian website over propaganda ban

Swedish furniture chain IKEA will shut down the Russian version of its IKEA Family Live magazine because of the country’s laws against spreading gay propaganda. IKEA’s magazine frequently depicts gay families, and the company says it could face prosecution in Russia for the content. In 2013, IKEA was criticized by activists for pulling an article about a lesbian couple from the Russian version of the magazine.

Read more from Agence France-Presse.

Madonna: Gay rights are more advanced than women’s

In an interview with Out Magazine, Madonna said that she thinks gay rights are now more advanced than women’s rights. “Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights. People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period,” she said. “It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women.” The article digs into Madonna’s long and complex relationship to the gay community.

Peruvians march after rejection of civil union bill

Hundreds of Peruvians turned out to Washington Park in Lima, March 14, to protest the failure of a bill that would have legalized civil unions. Carlos Bruce, the Peruvian congressman who led the protest, has emerged as the leader of the country’s gay rights movement.

Read more at Sin Etiquetes.

 

Gay groups march in Boston St Patrick’s parade

For the first time in the parade’s 114 year history, gay rights groups marched in Boston’s St Patrick’s Day parade March 16. For decades, organizers argued that gay groups ran against traditional Irish Catholic doctrine, but community pressure in progressive Massachusetts eventually won out.

Read more from Reuters.

Niko Bell

Niko Bell is a writer, editor and translator from Vancouver. He writes about sexual health, science, food and language.

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