Italian lawmakers, rights activists clash over gay sex club scandal

Rome (dpa) - Gay rights activists and conservative politicians clashed Tuesday after the chief of Italy‘s anti-discrimination office quit over allegations that money had been authorized for gay sex clubs.Francesco Spano resigned as head of the National Anti-Racism Office (UNAR) on Monday in the wake of an expose by satirical TV news show "Le Iene" ("Reservoir Dogs"), however he denied any wrongdoing.The programme alleged that a non-profit called Anddos obtained 55,000 euros (58,000 dollars) in public funding, some of which went to two gay clubs where paid sex took place.Footage was shown of men having sex in the clubs, which the reporters said were posing as cultural associations in order to get public funding.Spano said in a statement on Tuesday that "the mudslinging machine remains the weapon of choice for cowards who don‘t hesitate to denigrate those doing their job with loyalty and honesty."Lawmakers from the right-wing, anti-immigrant Northern League party, along with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi‘s center-right Forza Italia and other conservative parties, clamored for UNAR to be abolished."We need to get to the next step, which is to shut down this body that wastes Italian taxpayers‘ money in repugnant activities," said representative Daniela Santanche of Forza Italia."The attack on UNAR is an attack on each one of us," the Mario Mieli Association, a gay rights group, said in a statement. "The funds for Anddos would have financed anti-violence centers and crisis hotlines, certainly not saunas and clubs as the ‘Le Iene‘ report would have us believe." UNAR finances hundreds of non-profits, including the Red Cross, Oxfam, Save the Children, and many Catholic, lay, LGBT, labour, environmental and refugee rights groups.