Rome's annual Gay Pride parade was the cause of a fresh dispute in Premier Romano Prodi's fractious centre-left coalition on Thursday.
The storm was triggered by a decision to grant the Saturday event sponsorship by the premier's office.
The centre-right opposition headed by former premier Silvio Berlusconi was the first to contest the decision but the row soon spread to the governing coalition.
Staunch Catholics in Prodi's nine-party alliance, which ranges from hard-leftists to centrists, demanded that the premier's office withdraw its sponsorship.
The so-called Teodems (theological democrats) said the Gay Pride platform contained "points which cannot be considered legitimate", such as gay marriage and adoption and assisted fertility rights for same-sex couples.
Equal Opportunities Minister Barbara Pollastrini sought to ease the row by saying that the sponsorship had in reality been granted by her department which in turn was overseen by the premier's office.
"And my ministry's sponsorship is not for the parade or its platform but for the cultural and sports events connected to Gay Pride which take place in the week before the march," she added.
She denied that she was "backpedalling", telling reporters that it was a matter of "correct information".
But her comments failed to appease the Teodems and other centrist Catholics in the alliance who are already upset over a government bill granting certain rights to cohabiting heterosexual and gay couples, which has been repeatedly criticised by the Catholic Church.
The UDEUR, a tiny centrist, Catholic party headed by Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, said Gay Pride risked turning into an "open contestation of the Church and Catholic values".
It said that no government sponsorship had been granted to a recent Family Day demo in Rome which was promoted by Catholic organisations in favour of family values and drew hundreds of thousands of people to Rome.
The participation in Gay Pride of government party representatives and possibly ministers including Pollastrini - who said she would first consult with Prodi - set off further feuding.
Family Policy Minister Rosy Bindi said that "I agree with the right to demonstrate but not if you're a minister because there is a huge difference between Gay Pride's political manifesto and the government's positions".
But Environment Minister and Green party chief Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, who is openly bisexual, said that "I believe support is good for a rally which is asking for greater secularism and condemns discrimination... Ministers in countries all around the world back initiatives against discrimination".
The opposition, meanwhile, said the governing coalition was in a "state of chaos".
"Here we go again - they can't agree on anything. The only sensible thing to do would be to pull the plug on this government," said Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
The rightist National Alliance demanded that Prodi report to parliament on the sponsorship issue, saying that Gay Pride represented a "full-frontal attack on the Catholic Church and traditional family values".
GAY GROUPS COMPLAIN OF DISCRIMINATION.
Meanwhile, gay and lesbian rights' groups appealed for the broadest support possible for the Gay Pride parade, which is always a colourful, carnival-like event which attracts tens of thousands of people.
Top Italian gay rights' association Arcigay said that "we need a really strong showing (on Saturday). A new season must open of democratic, liberal reforms which ensure equal rights and dignity for all people".
"Despite the government's pledges, the prospect of recognition for cohabiting couples is fading and discrimination (against gays) remains," the group said.
Under the terms of the so-called DICO bill drawn up by Pollastrini and Bindi, cohabiting couples including same-sex ones would be able to register their union, obtaining certain financial and inheritance rights and 'next of kin' rights if their loved one is physically or mentally incapacitated or in hospital.
Prodi promised such a bill in his election programme.
But most of the opposition has taken the Church's side while the governing coalition is divided, with Justice Minister Mastella one of the bill's most vocal critics.
Prodi needs the full support of his coalition if the DICO is to pass the Senate where he holds only two more seats than the opposition.
Italy is one of the few countries in the European Union which does not recognise the rights of cohabiting couples.
