Italian TV
network causes gay rights protest

The game show host for Affari Tuoi, the Italian version of Deal or No Deal, has claimed that public network RAI asked him whether he was gay when he auditioned for the show. Variety reports that Flavio Isinna's remarks have sparked a protest among Italy's gay rights groups.

"The issue of discrimination against homosexuals at RAI is a pressing one that needs to be resolved at all levels, from equal opportunity in the workplace to equal time in the news," Franco Grillini, head of the gay rights group Arcigay, said in Variety.

The news comes in contrast to the uproar created last week over the network's upcoming show titled Un Medico in Famiglia (A Doctor in the Family), which depicts two male doctors living together as a couple. The landmark show has been slammed by members of the the country's conservative party. According to Variety, Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of dictator Benito Mussolini, said the show was trying to "brainwash" people with the message "that a normal family is composed of two people of the same sex." (The Advocate)