"We embraced, a spontaneous embrace, but we are two men and it was not appreciated."

Two young gay men were told to stop hugging by a lifeguard at a resort in Southern Italy.

The two unnamed youths, ages 17 and 18, were at Lido Arcobaleno in Caserta when they were “intimidated” by the lifeguard, who told them to cut out the PDA.

“We were in the pool like everyone else,” one of them told Repubblica. “While we were in the water… we embraced, a spontaneous embrace, but we are two men and it was not appreciated.”

The 17-year-old, who is a resident of Caserta, said the lifeguard asked them to refrain from hugging as “there are children present in the facility.” He told them to remain more “composed.”

The teens told Il Fatto Quotidiano that while the lifeguard told them “he would have asked the same restraint of heterosexual couples,” they noticed plenty of straight guests indulging in public affection.

Earlier this summer, a gay couple in Calabria were denied accommodations at an inn because, the owner said, “we do not rent to animals or gays.”