Women Photobomb Antigay Italian Politician With Same-Sex Kiss

Italy's homophobic deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, got photobombed by two women who united in a kiss when taking a picture with him.

The women, Gaia Parisi and Matilde Rizzo, are friends and not romantically involved, but they wanted to send "a message of love and tolerance against the language and the attitude of hatred that politicians like Matteo Salvini keep spreading," Parisi told CNN.

Salvini, who is also interior minister and leader of the ultraconservative League Party, was campaigning for a local candidate in the women's hometown of Caltanissetta on the island of Sicily in April. When he started taking selfies with his fans, Parisi and Rizzo got in line, then kissed when it was their turn to take a photo. Security personnel separated them, but Salvini gave them well wishes and said he hopes they have sons.

The women then posted the photo on Instagram, where it quickly went viral. "We decided to use all the means at our disposal to protest peacefully, to be able to send our message through the platforms that unfortunately, today, seems to be the main platforms by which our ministers communicate with citizens," Parisi told CNN. "If the inadequacy of the medium was not enough, I think that the use they make of it is really improper."

Salvini is well known for his opposition to LGBTQ rights and other aspects of modern life. He has voiced his disapproval of same-sex relationships by saying children need both a mother and a father, and he has described surrogacy services as a crime, The Guardian reports. He has endorsed the World Congress of Families, an international coalition of anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion groups that held its annual meeting this year in Verona, Italy. The nation offers civil unions to same-sex couples but not marriage.

He did, however, repost the women's Instagram photo with the message "Best wishes, peace and good, sisters." CNN sought further comment from him, but his spokesperson said he had nothing more to say.