VAC SUPPORTS DOLCE GABBANA BOYCOTT

The Victorian AIDS Council (VAC) has come out in support of Elton John’s call to
boycott Dolce Gabbana products in response to comments made by Domencio Dolce on Italian magazine
Panorama’s website where he was critical of IVF and the notion that a child could be raised by a same sex
couple saying, “You are born and you have a father and a mother, or at least it should be like this, that’s
why I am not convinced by chemical children, synthetic babies, wombs for rent.”
In an earlier interview, Stefano Gabbana had said, “I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two
gay parents. A child needs a mother and a father.”
Elton John has called for a boycott on Dolce Gabbana products saying, “How dare you refer to my beautiful
children as ‘synthetic’.”
Earlier this month, VAC partnered with Rainbow Families Council to host a community forum at ChillOut
Festival 2015 to discuss the challenges, strengths, and contemporary issues faced by families in the gender,
sex, and sexually diverse communities of Victoria. After the success of this forum and noted increase in
community support, VAC CEO Simon Ruth has expressed disappointment at the comments made by the
Italian fashion duo.
Simon Ruth supports Elton John’s call for a boycott saying, “These comments are not only counterproductive
to debates around the use and benefits of fertility technology generally, they are shocking as they are
coming from two openly gay men who have been the beneficiaries of significant gay support throughout
their careers.”
He added, “We, continue to fight for the rights of the GLBTI community to parent children and create
nurturing and loving families in the face of continued opposition from the church, some political parties,
and now it seems, has been fashion designers.”