Three Italian students got down and outright disgusting during gym class. Rather than educating themselves physically, the gang gave a peer a lesson in hate by writing "fag" and drawing a swastika on his chest. Foul!

Italian news agency AGI provides the charmingly translated details:

: The 'Mario Mieli' gay culture institute [condemned] the episode, which is "extremely serious, not only because it offended and shocked the boy, who did have the courage to report it, but also because it recalls ancient methods, which should just belong to the past".

The institute appreciated the courage of the PE teacher, who immediately identified the authors of the act, and of the headmaster, who reported the case to the police. "For the three boys it may just have been a stupid thing, a way to prove their strength, but [it] indicates the tendency to isolate, using uncalled-for violence".

No word on what will be done with the terrible trio. We're hoping the "fag" gets to write "shit head" or "pig fucker" on their foreheads. Maybe both if the kids have exceptionally large brows…

There's no mute on this one! Italian choir boy Alberto Ruggin found himself ousted from his church after coming out on national television. Despite knowing the church condemns the gays, Mr. Ruggin will ask his presiding Bishop to appeal the discriminatory decision:

Ruggin, who is a practicing Roman Catholic, said that the priest, Don Paolino Bettanin, was "disgusted" by the affair.

"I tried to explain to him that a true Christian respects everybody — he accused me of not revealing my sexuality sooner, but admitted he had suspected it. The truth is that he's scared of what people might say. So, I'm turning to the Bishop."

It's worth noting that Ruggin sang his little heart out in the same chorus for seven years. On the positive side, he probably won't have any trouble getting a date - hubba, hubba!

The Catholic Church flexed its anti-trans muscle this week when it banned trans politico Vladimir Luxuria from being a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding:

[Luxuria] said she had been asked by her cousin to be the bridesmaid at her Catholic wedding, to be held at an ancient sanctuary in Foggia, southern Italy.

But Father Francesco, the sanctuary's pastor, told Reuters the request was rejected because Luxuria, a former drag queen and defender of gay rights, "does not believe in family values, even from a political point of view".

"His personal choices are another matter, I have already explained this to him," the priest said by phone on Wednesday.

Luxuria's Communist Refoundation party called the ban "illegal and racist".

Well, it's not exactly racist, but it's just as discriminatory. And evil. Or, as Luxuria's party says, "Once again, the Church shows its discriminatory and fundamentalist face."

As Swedish gays fight an underground war, Italian conservatives are fighting a battle of the umbilical variety. Tuscany's local government caused a stir this week when they unveiled a new tolerance campaign

Posters of a rosy, puffy cheeked newborn baby have provoked controversy in Italy because the infant is shown wearing a wristband name-tag with the word "homosexual" written on it.

The photograph of the baby is part of a anti-discrimination campaign launched by Tuscany's regional government and is accompanied by the slogan: "Sexual orientation is not a choice."

"Homosexuality is not a vice and hence should not be condemned nor marginalised, or worse still persecuted," [said Tuscany's] civil rights councillor Agostino Fragai.

While Fragai supports the campaign, parliamentarian Lucio Volonte's crowing foul…

Says Volonte, "Exploiting newborns to suggest that homosexual tendencies are innate is a misleading and shameful act." Volonte goes on to say the posters are too "biology-based". "Of course for a homosexual it is natural to be gay, but I'm not too sure it is determined by genetics."

As Milan celebrates fashion week, civilians and sartorialist alike have been awestruck by an anti-anorexia advert. While some people laud the billboard, French fashionista Didier Grumbach finds it "scandalous":

I'm pleased this is not happening in France. I find this absolutely scandalous.

Winning notoriety through people's illness is painful. What we're seeing here is sensationalism by a label, to the detriment of an extremely serious social problem. This young girl is not a model. This is low behavior. It is degrading.

Wait, doesn't the fashion industry make billions on perpetuating stick thin ideals? Talk about low behavior.

The Italian government's sure feeling generous.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi and equal opportunity minister Barbara Pollastrini both agreed that Italy will grant Pegah Emambakhsh asylum. The British government arrested Emambakhsh (pictured, blurrily) earlier this month and planned on sending her back to Iran, a decision that sparked international outrage.

If sent home, the young lesbian would have been stoned and lashed for her lesbian ways. Now she gets an entire nation full of fine, Italian women.

A much better face, to be sure.

Treviso, Italy mayor Giancarlo Gentilini garnered some anti-gay protest this weekend after threatening to "ethnically clean" "faggots". In remarks on a radio show last week, Gentilini recalled Hitler's final solution when he said,

I will immediately give orders to my forces so that they can carry out an ethnic cleansing of faggots. The faggots must go to other [places] where they are welcome. Here in Treviso there is no chance for faggots or the like.

Damn, that shit makes Fort Lauderdale mayor Jim Naugle's robo-toilet suggestion sound like an invitation to tea.

About 1,000 people turned up in Trevio's town square to shake a fist at Gentilini, calling for a criminal investigation and suggesting a resignation.

And, more than that, they swear to keep up the fight until Gentilini's punished for his sin.

CONTINUED »

Roman homos claimed a slice of the historic city yesterday. Led by gay group Aricay, several hundred men and women gathered at Via San Giovani in Laterno and renamed it "Gay Street". Sodomy Street simple didn't have the same ring and now gay street will be "point of reference for the gay and lesbian community."

The move comes as activists continue to protest last week's arrest of two men kissing outside The Colosseum. The couple claims they only kissed, but Roman police insist their action went further than a simple lip lock. Hundreds of gays staged a kiss-in last week and plan to do the same this weekend.

See? Activism can be sexy…

• We're totally in love with the animal behavior student who made this video.

• Anti-gay crackdown in Italy?

Italian police detained two gay men for kissing outside the Colosseum and accused them of "lewd conduct", sparking howls of protest on Friday from rights groups and calls for an apology from a government minister.

Coppers, meanwhile, claims the arrests have nothing to do with homophobia.

• Nicole Richie has a date with the warden.

• Happy Outiversary, Lance Bass!

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Pope Benedict XVI will not be making an appearance at Milan-based Palazzo della Ragione's Art and Homosexuality exhibit.

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Rome's Arch of Peace just got a makeover. Party planners fitted the 2000-year old structure with 300 of Italian designer Valentino's breathtaking dresses.

The next three days will be filled all sorts of star studded as Uma Thurman, Elizabeth Hurley, Sienna Miller and that fashion tyrant, Anna Wintour gather to celebrate Valentino's 45-years as a style god.

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• The literal torture of being gay in Iran.

• John Amaechi is a gay pride whore.

• Gay Shame activist on pride: "Queer folks exist because of a legacy of direct action activism. However, the gay mainstream is actively working to 'clean up' all forms of queerness that do not fit into the white, upper class, married, heathery dream."

• More on "hate crime" victim Aaron Hall.

• Developers are closing in on Lake Cuomo, Italy, where George Clooney keeps a home. Naturally he thinks it's all about him: "I don’t want my presence here to be a pain to the other citizens, but if you ask me these proposals are in every probability just to exploit the fact that I live here."

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Homo hooker Pino Pelosi spent nine years in jail for the 1975 murder of gay Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Upon his release two years, however, Pelosi promised he didn't do it. He refuses, however, to say who did.

Now, Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni urging police to look into the openly gay director's death. Veltroni and 700 other concerned citizens claim politics motivated die hard communist Pasolini's murder…

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Transgender MP Vladimir Luxuria led approximately 100,000 men, women and trans folk through Rome this weekend to celebrate gay pride.

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Italian artist Mario Sironi's heir, Andrea Sironi, would donate 5,000 paintings to Milan, but she can't reconcile her politics with those of Milan's anti-gay mayor, Letizia Moratti. Conservative Moratti originally protested the ongoing 21st International Festival of Gay and Lesbian Cinema, which led Sironi to withdraw her donation.

Sironi told reporters, "Italy is taking steps backward while other parts of Europe are advancing. Italy is antiquated with its moralism." His statement happens to coincide with the film festival's announcement that Milan may, in fact, donate up to $26,000 to the event.

Upon hearing the news, Sironi said that he'd be willing to donate his forefather's famous works, but only if Moratti and her government make a conscious effort to include queers, "I'm not stubborn. If she goes back on her decision, I don't see why I can't change my mind." Art in exchange for social progress. How poetic…