For my generation, the very idea that anyone could oppose interracial marriage seems all but unthinkable.

And yet in the 1980s – according to the British Social Attitudes survey – half the population were against it. Millions believed that such relationships represented some sinister threat to the gene pool; that it was somehow cruel to bring up mixed-race children. Even in the 1990s the level of opposition was around 40%, before collapsing more recently to around 15%.

These days, it is rightly regarded as an illegitimate view, beyond the realms of acceptable political debate.

Which brings me to a deeply disturbing public intervention by the designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. As well as opposing same-sex couples raising children, Gabbana described babies conceived through IVF treatment as “synthetic” and the “children of chemicals”. This is quite literally dehumanising: to question or undermine people’s humanity is menacing stuff.

To question or undermine people’s humanity is menacing stuff

Given that Elton John is the loving father of two such children, you can understand why he is so upset. “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘synthetic’,” came his very public response, demonstrating that children produce the same visceral feelings in gay fathers as they do with any other parents. His call for a boycott of Dolce & Gabbana is now gathering support, reaching from the LGBT campaigner Peter Tatchell to Victoria Beckham. Melanie McDonagh of the Spectator, on the other hand, denounces the reaction as a “giant, collective hissy intake of breath”. Note that “hissy” is not a term employed against straight men.

Dolce and Gabbana’s response demonstrates that they have retreated to the last refuge of a bigot. “We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it,” they’ve declared. Eh? What does this have to do with anything? They have used their public platform to make gross generalisations, and John has exercised his own right to freedom of expression in response. He has not called for their arrest or demanded any restrictions on their personal liberty. He has simply suggested that those who find Dolce and Gabbana’s views objectionable should consider not buying their products, as is their right. Gabbana has even called John a fascist– an absurd usage and an insult to the millions of people persecuted and exterminated by fascist regimes.

Dolce and Gabbana believe that we should just agree to disagree; their view is just as legitimate as anybody else’s. The likes of Elton John are supposed to say: “Ah, well, you don’t think I should be a parent, and you think my children are synthetic and the children of chemicals, but hey, you’re entitled to your views.”

The fact that Dolce and Gabbana are gay is neither here nor there: there is no shortage of examples of members of oppressed groups who have internalised the prejudice and discrimination directed against them. Their intervention helps to legitimise prejudice against gay people and their children. It helps to fuel bullying of children – whether because they are raised by same-sex parents, or because they have been conceived by IVF.

Elton John and leading LGBT groups call for Dolce & Gabbana boycott Read more

In any case, the evidence is clear. A study by the University of Melbourne has suggested that children raised by such parents actually have better health and wellbeing. On other measures, they were on a par with those raised by same-sex couples. This is hardly surprising: because it is harder for same-sex couples to have children, there is a positive selection for what are more likely to be doting parents.

This furore could be a watershed. Opposition to mixed-race relationships eventually came to be regarded as completely illegitimate: the alleged rights and wrongs of such partnerships are not an acceptable matter of debate. We are now reaching the same tipping point with same-sex parents. The backlash shows how far we have come.