Lady Gaga said the defeat of Italian legislation that would have made violence against LGBTQ people and women a hate crime is a "total disaster."
The bill passed in Italy's lower house of Parliament this year, but it was blocked in its Senate last month.
In an appearance Sunday on the Italian talk show "Che Tempo Che Fa" to promote her coming film, "House of Gucci," Lady Gaga was shown video of a crowd protesting the failed legislation while singing her hit song "Born This Way," an LGBTQ anthem.
“I just want to say something to the LGBTQ+ community in Italy — that you are the bravest, you are the kindest, you are an inspiration. For this to happen is a total disaster," she said, holding back tears. "You deserve to be protected at all costs, like every human being on Earth. I will always write music for you, but more importantly, I will speak up for you."
After it passed in the lower house, the bill faced pushback from the Vatican. The Vatican feared that the law could lead to the criminalization of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy for refusing to conduct gay marriages, for opposing adoption by same-sex couples or for refusing to teach gender theory in Catholic schools, a Vatican source said.
The legislation is known as the “Zan bill,” named for Alessandro Zan, a gay lawmaker of the center-left Democratic Party. On Sunday, Zan thanked Lady Gaga on Twitter.
"Yes, Lady Gaga, the Italian LGBTQ+ community is strong and courageous. More than a society still steeped in hatred, more than senators hiding behind a secret vote," he wrote. "We will not give up until this battle is won."
Similar legislation is pending in the U.S. In March, the House passed the Equality Act, which would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act to federally bar discrimination against LGBTQ people. It has stalled in the Senate.
