Pop singer Lady Gaga has been warned
against making provocative statements against Pope Benedict or the
Catholic Church at this weekend's giant Gay Pride event EuroPride
2011 taking place in Rome.
Organizers said they expect roughly one
million revelers to attend the annual parade, a huge-turn out for the
traveling party that attracted a meager crowd of 8,000 last year in
Warsaw, Poland, where anti-gay sentiment remains high.
Among Western European countries, Italy
is a dawdler in terms of gay rights, offering neither civil
partnerships nor marriage for gay and lesbian couples, as most
countries have.
Several conservative lawmakers have
warned the Born This Way singer – a strong proponent of gay
rights – against making provocative statements when she takes the
stage on Saturday at the city's Circus Maximus at 9PM.
“The gay world does not feel
represented by someone who makes videos that offend Jesus,” Rocco
Buttiglione, the deputy speaker of parliament, told the UK's Daily
Telegraph.
“If Lady Gaga attacks the Holy Father
or the Catholic Church millions of gay moderates will not recognize
themselves in those comments,” he added.
“Maybe she is badly informed about
our country since all the opinion polls prove that an overwhelming
majority of Italians are against marriage between a man and a man and
a woman and a woman,” said Carlo Giovanardi, a junior minister for
family policy.
Pope
Benedict is a vocal opponent of marriage equality. In March, the
Vatican condemned a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution
that called on countries “to take steps to end acts of violence,
criminal sanctions and related human rights violations committed
against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender
identity.”