Love is Love ….unless you are a Russian politician

It seems like when it comes to their take on sexuality Dolce & Gabbana, the queer Italian couple who are fashion powerhouse designers, are always in hot water these days.

Back in 2015 Dolce had to apologize for remarks he made about gay couples and IVF, describing children born via IVF as “synthetic”. The pair said “the only family is the traditional one“.  They so upset one of their most famous customers Sir Elton John, who has two children through IVF with his partner David Furnish.  Sir Elton immediately called for a boycott of the brand. 

Then in 2018  Stefano Gabbana said he didn’t want to be identified by the word “gay”, saying he is tired of being “identified by [his] sexual choices.”

Now its the (presumably heterosexual) Russian Parliament who are angry with the Italian couple whom they claim their adverts featuring same-sex models kissing “propagandizes non-traditional sexual relationships”. Although same-sex relationships are legal in Russia, there is a 2013 law that makes it illegal for anything to promote homosexuality and “non-traditional” relationships.

Mikhail Romanov, a member of the ruling United Russia party filed the complaint about the ad featuring two women kissing which was part of the brand’s ‘Love is Love’ campaign for Valentine’s Day 2021. Now the claim also  includes an advert of two men kissing, but Reuters says the claim has not progressed due to a lack of documents to support the claim.