Barilla exec apologizes for remarks on gays

Bowing to continuing criticism of his controversial remarks about gays, Guido Barilla has pledged to meet with groups “that best represent the evolution of the family, including those who have been offended by my words.”

The concession, posted in a video apology on the website of his family-owned pasta giant, came as the company tried to calm the boycott calls and criticism ignited last week when Barilla said he would not show gay families in company ads. Barilla’s holdings include a pasta factory in Avon, Livingston County.

“I would never make a spot with a homosexual family,” Barilla said Thursday on the Italian radio program La Zanzara (The Mosquito), according to Italian news agency ANSA. “Not out of a lack of respect but because I do not see it like they do. (My idea of) family is a classic family where the woman has a fundamental role.”

ANSA reported that when the show’s hosts noted that gays and lesbians eat pasta, Barilla responded, “That’s fine if they like our pasta and our communication, they can eat them. Otherwise, they can eat another pasta.”

Barilla also said, “I respect everyone who does what they want to do without bothering others,” ANSA reported. He said he supported gay marriage “but not adoption in gay families.”

“As a father of multiple children, I believe it’s very hard to raise kids in a same-sex couple,” Barilla said, according to ANSA.

The remarks drew an unwelcome spotlight to the Barilla Group, a private Italian company founded in 1877 where Guido Barilla and his brothers, Luca and Paolo, represent the fourth generation of family-owned leadership. According to the firm’s website, Barilla employs more than 8,000 workers, owns 30 production sites and each year produces 1.7 million tons of food products distributed to 100 countries.

Guido Barilla, the company’s chairman, initially issued a written apology on his firm’s website, saying that while his comments were hurtful “they are not a genuine view of my opinion.”

But the comments did little to ease rising calls for boycotts and petitions that drew thousands of signatures from angry protesters around the world.

“We accept his invitation to not eat his pasta,” said Aurelio Mancuso, president of gay-rights group Equality Italia, ANSA reported

“Here we have another example of homophobia, Italian style,” said Alessandro Zan, an Italian parliament member with the left-wing SEL party, ANSA reported.

The furor spread internationally via Twitter, where the hashtags #boicottabarilla and #boycottbarilla prompted numerous tweets.

“Now that we know pasta CEO G. Barilla is homophobic, it’s a good day to say DeCecco is far better anyway,” tweeted actress Mia Farrow.

Barilla pasta product competitors Bertolli and San Remo used the controversy to post social media advertising messages that stressed support for families of all types. “Pasta for all,” proclaimed a similar Buitoni ad posted on Facebook.

Even Dario Fo, the Nobel Prize winner and Italian actor and playwright who once appeared in a Barilla ad, issued an open letter asking the executive to reconsider his wounding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

A Change.org petition posted by Fo had drawn more than 52,000 supporting signatures as of Monday. That represents “a clear indicator that consumers are still pretty upset. If anything, it appears these campaigns are gaining momentum, not slowing down,” Change.org spokesman Mark Anthony Dingbaum said Monday.

So Barilla ate crow in the new video apology, saying the reaction to his comments “depressed and saddened me.”

“It is clear that I have a lot to learn about the lively debate concerning the evolution of the family,” said Barilla. “In the coming weeks, I pledge to meet representatives of the groups that best represent the evolution of the family, including those who have been offended by my words.”

GLAAD, a U.S. advocacy group for the LGBT community that had started asking officials at U.S. supermarket chains to speak out against Barilla’s comments, on Monday called Barilla’s pledge to meet with his critics a “good first step.”

But the pasta executive should go further, by taking steps to ensure that same-sex couples in Italy receive equal benefits and are protected against job discrimination, said Rich Ferraro, GLAAD’s vice president of communications. Ferraro also suggested that Barilla provide financial help to Italy-based LGBT organizations that combat prejudice.

“I think the public backlash shows that homophobia is bad for business today because we’re living in a world where LGBT people are respected and accepted,” said Ferraro. “That wasn’t the case five years ago.”

The Barilla controversy comes three months after Dan Cathy, president of Atlanta-based food chain Chick-fil-A, used Twitter to voice his opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act.

“Sad day for our nation; founding fathers would be ashamed of our gen. to abandon wisdom of the ages re: cornerstone of strong societies,” Cathy wrote in a tweet that was later deleted.

USA TODAY reported earlier this month that Chick-fil-A appeared to be offering a moderated view.

“Our intent is not to support political or social agendas,” said Steve Robinson, the firm’s executive vice president for marketing. He added that the company’s culture “is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender.”

In a separate gay rights victory, Exxon Mobil said Friday it would provide health insurance and other worker benefits to married same-sex couples starting Oct. 1.

That decision, which reversed years of the oil giant’s opposition to such a policy, came in response to new federal government guidelines prompted by June’s Supreme Court ruling.