Hotel with separate gay toilet icon causes uproar
An Italian toilet icon in southern Italy has upset the LGBT community.
A hotel establishment in Cavallino near the southern Italian city of Lecce has created a storm with its unusual toilet icons, three to be precise; a woman, a man, and a "gay" man.
"The word had been covered up but somebody decided to uncover it and make it visible again," the owner told Il Quotidiano. The owner said the extra icon would be painted over.
It had been there since the previous administration, according to the current owner, who stressed that there was no intention to discriminate, according to Repubblica. It was not instantly clear how the discriminatory icon had been placed there in the first place.
Several Italian dailies and media outlets commented that three toilets was even two too many in an era where unisex facilities are increasingly popular.
The Associazione LeA (Liberamente e Apertamente), an Italian LGBT rights lobby, released a statement denouncing the negative attitude.
"It is frankly shocking that in 2017 there are still cases of this kind, where there is a great confusion between gender identity and sexual orientation and it is flaunted by communications in such a misleading and homophobic manner in public places, which only humiliates and hurts people," said a spokesperson for the Lecce branch of the LeA organisation.
The latest homophobic story from southern Italy comes only a week after two Italian teenage men were asked to leave at a beach resort for hugging. Earlier this year a gay couple were refused a room at a hotel.
READ MORE: Italy one of the worst countries in western Europe for gay rights
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A hotel establishment in Cavallino near the southern Italian city of Lecce has created a storm with its unusual toilet icons, three to be precise; a woman, a man, and a "gay" man.
"The word had been covered up but somebody decided to uncover it and make it visible again," the owner told Il Quotidiano. The owner said the extra icon would be painted over.
It had been there since the previous administration, according to the current owner, who stressed that there was no intention to discriminate, according to Repubblica. It was not instantly clear how the discriminatory icon had been placed there in the first place.
Several Italian dailies and media outlets commented that three toilets was even two too many in an era where unisex facilities are increasingly popular.
The Associazione LeA (Liberamente e Apertamente), an Italian LGBT rights lobby, released a statement denouncing the negative attitude.
"It is frankly shocking that in 2017 there are still cases of this kind, where there is a great confusion between gender identity and sexual orientation and it is flaunted by communications in such a misleading and homophobic manner in public places, which only humiliates and hurts people," said a spokesperson for the Lecce branch of the LeA organisation.
The latest homophobic story from southern Italy comes only a week after two Italian teenage men were asked to leave at a beach resort for hugging. Earlier this year a gay couple were refused a room at a hotel.
READ MORE: Italy one of the worst countries in western Europe for gay rights
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