(Italy’s Minister for Equal Opportunities, Mara Carfagna)

The International Herald Tribune reported today that Italy’s new Minister for Equal Opportunities, Mara Carfagna, has refused to back a “gay pride” march because, she said, gays no longer suffer discrimination in Italy.

The appointment of Carfagna, a 32-year-old former Miss Italy contestant and television showgirl, said in comments published Monday that she would not back the June gay pride event in Bologna because “gay prides are pointless.”

“Homosexuality is no longer a problem, at least not the way the organizers of these demonstrations would have us believe,” Carfagna said. “Gay pride’s only aim is official recognition for homosexual couples, on the same level with marriage. I cannot agree to that.”

“Gone are the times when homosexuals were declared mentally ill,” Carfagna told Corriere della Sera. “Today there is such a thing as integration into society.” She said she would sponsor seminars dealing with “discrimination and violence” against gay people.

The rights group Arcigay asked how she could say gay people suffer no discrimination in a country where they “are forced to hide their sexual orientation at home, at school and at work.” The head of Arcigay, Aurelio Mancuso, said Carfagna lived in “a fairy-tale land.” He said 14 gays or lesbians had been murdered in Italy in the past two years, 50 had suffered serious attacks and thousands had been discriminated against.