Barilla to Gays: Eat Someone Else's Pasta

Italian pasta-maker Barilla apparently has a distaste for gay families. The company's chairman told Italian radio show La Zanzara Thursday that the world's largest pasta producer will never feature gay couples in its advertisements.

"I would never do [a commercial] with a homosexual couple, not for lack of respect but because we don't agree with them," said Guido Barilla, according to a Reuters translation. "Ours is a classic family where the woman plays a fundamental role. … If [gays] don't like it, they can go eat another brand."

Just to drive his point home, Barilla added, "I have no respect for adoption by gay families because this concerns a person who is not able to choose," according to a translation from the U.K. Independent. "Everyone has a the right to do what they want without disturbing those around them."

The backlash to Barilla's comments was almost immediate, with LGBT activists in Italy and around the world calling for a boycott of Barilla products. By midday in Italy, the hashtag #boicottbarilla was trending on Twitter, according to Italian news service ANSA. Twitter users were circulating the meme at right.