Controversial mayor of Venice bans gay pride parades from the city

Venice’s right-wing mayor has declared that the city will never play host to a gay pride parade, at least whilst he remains in office.

Luigi Brugnaro told Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper that gay pride is the ‘height of kitsch’ and instructed potential pride participants to ‘go and do it in Milan, or in front of their own homes’. Italy’s gay rights group Arcigay holds pride marches in various Italian cities each year, and last held one in Venice in 2014. Brugnaro had already sparked controversy and been called ‘boorishly bigoted’ by Elton John earlier this year, after banning books featuring same-sex couples from Venice’s schools. Read more: theguardian.com