Dolce & Gabbana designer Stefano Gabbana is defying labels, declaring that first and foremost he is a man, saying “I am not gay, I am a man. That’s it.”

Gabbana — one of First Lady Melania Trump’s favorite fashion designers and occasional couturier — says he is tired of being referred to as “gay” and would rather be deemed simply “a man,” as all other men are called.

Watch a portion of the interview here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BczIbmnlMYk/?hl=en&taken-by=stefanogabbana

“I’m just surprised at how, still to this day, people call me gay,” Gabbana told Corriere in an exclusive interview. “But why ‘gay’ in reality, I am a man. Why should we define men? I’m biologically a man, in the sense that I am a male or like a woman. At my place they could call her ‘gay’ but if she’s a woman she is a female.” “The word ‘gay’ is just a word, an invented word that is used to identify people,” Gabbana continued. “But I don’t want to be identified or classified based on my sexual choice. Homosexuality has always existed, it’s not new. I am not gay, I am a man. That’s it.”

Gabbana, a devout Catholic, also said he did not want to be associated with the term “gay” because he says it automatically lumps him into a group that feels the need to defend him when he says there is nothing to defend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BczgYKkl3eG/?hl=en&taken-by=stefanogabbana

“They are all associations. But I don’t want to be associated or classified with anything because I don’t need to be defended by anyone, I haven’t done anything wrong, I’m just a man,” Gabbana said. “I even created a t-shirt that says, ‘I am a man, not gay’ which I will soon wear. I am saying that there are just human rights and that’s it. The most important thing is being human, with no other definitions. These distinctions are absurd and they are used in politics or by other entities to exploit situations in their favor.”

Gabbana said that when he first revealed his homosexuality to an Italian magazine. Afterwards, he said his mother called him and asked why he had not spoken to her beforehand, but he says when it comes to his private life, it should not be a complicated issue that needs to be discussed.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc0ILs6lBez/?hl=en&taken-by=stefanogabbana

“And that’s the problem. It’s how other people will judge you and the fear of what they’ll say because they think you’re different,” Gabbana said. “But I said to her that I was not an assassin or a criminal, I’m not a drug dealer nor do I do drugs. Instead of loving a woman, I love a man. And I asked her ‘What problem do you have?’ She replied that she had none, so I said there was nothing to discuss and she told me I was right.”

Gabbana has been unabashed during his career in defying the left-wing norms of the fashion establishment.

In June, when a crew of fashion designers had announced that they would not personally help dress Melania Trump, Gabbana began dressing the First Lady, creating custom-made dresses and coats for her White House wardrobe.

Afterwards, fashion critics demanded a boycott of Dolce & Gabbana for their close relationship with Melania, prompting the Italian fashion house to launch an ad campaign and t-shirt line mocking their left-wing critics, as Breitbart News reported.

Stefano Gabbana and design partner Domenico Dolce caused chaos among the fashion establishment when in 2015 and previous years, repeatedly declared their opposition to gay marriage and gay couples having children together.

“The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offspring and rented uterus. Life has a natural flow; there are things that cannot be changed,” the Italian designers said. “Procreation must be an act of love.” “I call children of chemistry, synthetic children. Uteri for rent, semen chosen from a catalog,” Dolce said at the time. “The family is not a fad. In it there is a supernatural sense of belonging,” Gabbana said. “I am opposed to the idea of a child growing up with two gay parents,” Gabbana said in 2006.

In 2013, when the design duo was asked if they had ever considered getting married as gay men, Dolce responded “What? Never! I’m a practicing Catholic.”

Melania will wear a red-laced Dolce & Gabbana cocktail dress for her and President Trump’s White House Christmas special. Gabbana praised the ensemble, writing “#DGWoman THANK YOU” on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcuzZPNlMJr/?hl=en&taken-by=stefanogabbana