Right-wing Italian Minister Lorenzo Fontana continues to show prejudice against same-sex families under the guise of religious convictions. In his latest anti- rainbow families move, Fontana suggested that parents of children born through surrogacy should not be recognised as the legal guardians.

His comments were delivered in relation to an Italian lesbian couple who used artificial insemination to conceive while in Denmark. Authorities back in Italy refused to recognise their parental rights as the country only allows fertility treatments to straight couples. In a landmark move, the mayor of Turin decided to recognise the couple as the child’s parents, along with two other families in the same position. Fontana, however, refused.

Fontana told parliament members, “The present state of family law cannot account for what has happened in recent months on the matter of parental recognition, in terms of registering children conceived abroad by same-sex couples, using practices that are banned under our legal system and that should remain as such.”

The Italian Minister had previously shown his homophobic leanings when he responded that “rainbow families do not exist” when questioned by a journalist on the government’s refusal to allow gay people to foster or adopt.

Fontana insists it is his religious beliefs and not homophobia which colour his decisions, stating, “I am Catholic. That’s why I believe the family is the natural one, where a child must have a mother and a father.” He also spoke at an anti-abortion rally where he said gay marriage would wipe out “our community and traditions”.

The Minister for Families has a bizarre alibi for not being a homophobe, however, as he claims “I have many homosexual friends. After all I lived in Brussels for many years where many gay people hold positions in institutions.”

This ‘international’ outlook spreads as far as expressing support for the views of Russia’s notoriously homophobic government.