Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Monti, who is running for re-election in February, has rejected same-sex marriage.

Interviewed by SkyTg 24, Monti explained: ‘I think that a family is only made of a man and a woman. Children should grow with a father and a mother.’

But he indicated he was in favor of giving same-sex partners some of the rights and responsibilities of married heterosexuals.

‘A parliament could find good solutions for civil partnerships or civil unions. But we can not call them “families”,’ he said.

Monti’s words have been criticized by LGBT associations in Italy who have accused him of putting his Christianity ahead of gay citizens.

His comments came on the same day Alessio De Giorgi, entrepreneur and founder of leading LGBT website Gay.it, quit the general electoral race.

De Giorgi was running with Monti’s right of center party to become a Member of Parliament for the Tuscany region. But he resigned after a campaign led by a right-wing newspaper which published pictures of him partying with drag queens.

The entrepreneur said: ‘I’ve been at the center of a real defamation strategy.’

De Giorgi also claimed he was a victim of the political circus. Yesterday a famous radio program reported that the Tuscan entrepreneur owns two gay porn websites. In fact, he has shares in the sites but is not the sole owner.

Italian LGBT politicians and candidates in the general election race – Anna Paola Concia, Ivan Scalfarotto, Sergio Lo Giudice and Alessandro Zan – have confirmed their solidarity for De Giorgi.