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Gay mafiosi 'too scared to come out of closet'
By Nick Pisa in Rome (Telegraph.co.uk, 14/7/2008)
Gay godfathers are scared of coming out in the Italian Mafia for fear of being ridiculed or murdered, an anti-Mob prosecutor said.
Antonio Ingroia, who has helped bring several bosses to justice, said: "Being gay is still a taboo for Italian society in general, let alone the Mafia, which is an archaic organisation.
"These bosses have to cover their homosexuality; they're afraid because they risk being ridiculed and killed."
Mr Ingroia said that the American Mafia had "a more broad-minded attitude towards gays and so gay bosses can come out."
Times have certainly changed. In 2003, a mob informer told a New York court that the gay head of the mafia family on which The Sopranos series based was executed by his own men because they feared the family would be ridiculed by the rest of the underworld.
Anthony Capo told the trial: "Nobody's gonna respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing Cosa Nostra business."
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato, head of the De Cavalcante family, the biggest in the state of New Jersey, was shot dead in 1992 after it was rumoured that he had relationships with other men.
Capo told the court: "It shocked me he couldn't be acting that way - he was a leader of men."
Mr Ingroia, who is based in Palermo, the mob stronghold of Sicily, also urged Pope Benedict XVI to take a tougher stance against the Mafia.
His predecessor, John Paul II, is widely remembered for his condemnation of the Mob, most notably during a trip to Sicily in 1993 when he warned its members that they, too, would one day "face God's judgment."
Gay mafiosi 'too scared to come out of closet'
By Nick Pisa in Rome (Telegraph.co.uk, 14/7/2008)
Gay godfathers are scared of coming out in the Italian Mafia for fear of being ridiculed or murdered, an anti-Mob prosecutor said.
Antonio Ingroia, who has helped bring several bosses to justice, said: "Being gay is still a taboo for Italian society in general, let alone the Mafia, which is an archaic organisation.
"These bosses have to cover their homosexuality; they're afraid because they risk being ridiculed and killed."
Mr Ingroia said that the American Mafia had "a more broad-minded attitude towards gays and so gay bosses can come out."
Times have certainly changed. In 2003, a mob informer told a New York court that the gay head of the mafia family on which The Sopranos series based was executed by his own men because they feared the family would be ridiculed by the rest of the underworld.
Anthony Capo told the trial: "Nobody's gonna respect us if we have a gay homosexual boss sitting down discussing Cosa Nostra business."
John "Johnny Boy" D'Amato, head of the De Cavalcante family, the biggest in the state of New Jersey, was shot dead in 1992 after it was rumoured that he had relationships with other men.
Capo told the court: "It shocked me he couldn't be acting that way - he was a leader of men."
Mr Ingroia, who is based in Palermo, the mob stronghold of Sicily, also urged Pope Benedict XVI to take a tougher stance against the Mafia.
His predecessor, John Paul II, is widely remembered for his condemnation of the Mob, most notably during a trip to Sicily in 1993 when he warned its members that they, too, would one day "face God's judgment."
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