Out designer Stefano Gabbana of the
Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana said in a recent interview
that his humanity comes before his sexuality.
Gabbana made his remarks in an
interview with Milan daily Corriere della Sera.
“I don’t want to be called gay,
because I am simply a man full stop,” Gabbana said. “The word
‘gay’ was invented by those who need to label people, and I don’t
want to be identified by my sexual choices.”
He
continued: “I thought that I could help spread a new culture as
a famous person, a culture no longer based on gay rights but on human
rights. We are human beings before being gay, heterosexual, or
bisexual.”
Gabbana and his former partner Domenico
Dolce founded Dolce & Gabbana in 1985. The couple ended their
romantic relationship in 2005 but continue to work together.
Gabbana also revealed how he came to
terms with his sexuality at age 18.
“I had known for a while, but I
didn’t have the courage to admit it. Only through therapy did I
realize that there had been clear signs in my childhood. I wanted to
play alone because I felt different from the other children and I
feared that if we were together they would realize. And they would
tell my mother,” Gabbana said.
Dolce and Gabbana courted controversy
in 2015 when they described children of in vitro fertilization as
“synthetic children.”
The pair apologized after a public
outcry.
“I am so sorry,” Dolce told Vogue.
“I've realized that my words were inappropriate, and I apologize.
They are just kids.”
(Related: Stefano
Gabbana dismisses criticism about him dressing Melania Trump.)