LGBT Community Says Barilla Can Eat His Words

Comments by the chief executive of pasta giant Barilla are not sitting well with the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, including here in Connecticut. 

In a Thursday interview on Italian radio, Guido Barilla said only traditional families would star in their commercials. "I think the family that we speak to is a classic family," he said.

Barilla went on to say if gays didn't approve, they could eat another company's pasta.

And that's exactly what many are doing, in Long Island, and locally, too.

In a Facebook post, the Norwalk-based Triangle Community Center shared a link to an article on Human Rights Campaign, called "Five Pasta Brands That Support LGBT Equality."

"We're guessing that after hearing some of the remarks recently made by the Chairman of Barilla US Pasta you may be looking for some alternative brands."

"Always happy to help!"

A Long Island businessman who is a gay father of five children was not so kind in his reaction.

"The only way for Barilla to get ahead of this is to either fire their idiot chairman or do exactly what he said they would never do, which is run a television commercial that features a gay family. This is going to hurt Barilla's bottom line."

What do you think?

— Patch Editor David Reich Hale contributed to this article.