Bay State Rights Groups React to Anti-Gay Comments by Barilla Pasta CEO

By David Reich-Hale and Chris Helms

In the wake of the chief executive of pasta giant Barilla saying only traditional families would star in his company's commercials, gay rights organizations in Massachusetts are calling out the "discriminating message." 

In a Thursday interview on Italian radio, Guido Barilla said "I think the family that we speak to is a classic family." He went on to say if gays didn't approve, they could eat another company's pasta.

That's exactly what Deborah Peeples of Greater Boston Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays intends to do. 

"Personally, I'm not going to be buying Barilla Pasta," she said.

Peeples said incidents like this "remind us we have a lot of work to do."

She said even if the attitude toward gays and lesbians is a little different in Italy than in Massachusetts, the fact that Barilla sells their products in the U.S. means their CEO should pay more attention to consumers' values here.

The Twitter feed of Mass Equality, a anti-discrimination umbrella group, passed along this list of "12 Best Responses to Barilla's 'I Would Not Do a Commercial With a Homosexual Family.'"

"It's unfortunate," Peeples said, "when a person or a business goes on record with a discriminatory message."

If the CEO's comments are prompting you to change your pasta purchasing pattern, the Human Rights Campaign recommends these five brands. They scored high on the organization's "Corporate Equality Index."