And frankly ...
... as a gay man, if I were Guido Barilla, I would probably handle the situation the same way he did.
Why?
Because I'm not in the business of social engineering. I'm in the business of selling pasta. Like it or not, gay marriage and gay coupling are still largely viewed as controversial, and it's just plain bad business to make any kind of political statement that has nothing to do with your core business.
If showing a gay couple on my commercials or sales material would offend a sizeable chunk of my customer base (which pushing such a liberal agenda -- progressive as it may be -- would surely do), it's a no-brainer to avoid doing such a thing.
Barilla did not set out to make a statement. He was cornered into it -- baited -- when asked why he didn't have a gay couple in his ads. He responded on Italian radio truthfully: "For us the concept of the sacred family remains one of the basic values of the company... I would not do it, but not out of a lack of respect for homosexuals who have the right to do what they want without bothering others… [but] I don't see things like they do and I think the family that we speak to is a classic family."
I'm not seeing this as an "anti-gay" stance, or an "attack" on gays. The man is entitled to his opinion, as is everyone else.
And when asked how his gay clientele might react to his position (which he was unfairly baited into sharing), he added truthfully: "Well, if they like our pasta and our message, they will eat it; if they don't like it and they don't like what we say they will… eat another."
And again, the right response. Why? Because he's a BUSINESSMAN, and he knows his audience.
He's selling pasta. He's not re-engineering the world's social fabric.
Don't like it? Don't buy his pasta. But spare the rest of us the sanctimonious indignation. There are more important things in the world to focus your energy on.