No gays and animals, hotelier tells couple

THE owner of a guesthouse has sparked anger in Italy after refusing to host a gay couple, saying “we don’t accept gays and animals”.

The couple from Naples said they were dismayed to be told they were not welcome at Ciufo guesthouse near Vibo Valentia, in the southern region of Calabria, because the owner “believes in traditional families”.

Gennaro Casalino told Arcigay, Italy’s largest gay organisation: “I was reminded of the infamous images of Nazi signs outside shops saying ‘entry forbidden to dogs and Jews’.”

Filippo Mondella, the owner of the guesthouse, told Radio Capital that he did not intend to offend anyone when he wrote a message to the couple: “This is important and I don’t want to appear like a troglodyte, but we don’t accept gays and animals.” Mr Mondella said he did not mean to put gay people and dogs in the same category and it was a punctuation mistake.

He added: “The guesthouse is not a public structure, it’s a private house. We are Catholic, devout Christians … for me, they are normal people, but objectively we prefer to keep our faith.”

The incident, which the Naples section of Arcigay called “a serious case of discrimination and homophobia”, was condemned by local authorities.

“We completely distance ourselves from this,” said Giulia Russo, the mayor of Ricadi.

“In Ricadi we are civil and evolved people and such discrimination is not acceptable in 2017.”