What the hail, Mary?
A photoshoot in Italy involving two female models lip-locking went off the rails when a disapproving nun frantically tried to pry the women apart to save them from sin.
A video of the holy intervention went viral, but not because of the inspirational Love is Love incentive behind the photo shoot.
The Italian models Serena de Ferrari and Kyshan Wilson were posing in the Quartieri Spagnoli neighborhood in Naples for Italy's art and lifestyle publication, Not Yet Magazine, when the elderly nun happened to be walking by and was aghast over the sapphic display before her.
According to Pink News, the postulant headed for the models, yelling, "What are you doing? This is the devil's work," in Italian.
She immediately separated them and essentially ruined the shot.
The nun then turned toward witnesses and excoriated the public display of LGBTQ affection.
She also addressed the crew and accused their generation of being responsible for COVID-19, before crossing herself and saying, "Jesus, Joseph, and Mary.”
The religious sister's fury is an example of the deeply ingrained homophobia in Roman Catholicism–especially in Italy where the influential powers of the church objects to any advancement of LGBTQ+ rights.
However, this particular disruption was taken with a grain of salt due to the feisty nun's age and non-intimidating stature.
The models–who are also actors in the Italian soap opera Mare Fuori–couldn't resist chuckling as the nun blew a fuse over the same-sex kiss.
The clip was filmed by makeup artist Roberta Mastalia, who told the Italian media the nun had asked if the team had been to Mass that morning.
Said Mastalia:
“She asked us if we had been to Mass that day and when we said ‘no’ she started blaming young people for the coronavirus and then she saw the two models posing up ready to kiss and that’s when she ran forward to split them up."
She continued:
“Our first reaction was we were all stunned… [we] took it as a bit of a joke and in fact, you can see from the video the two girls are laughing.”
Social media users also found themselves giggling instead of getting angry over the nun's actions informed by her lifelong devotion to her faith.
@notyetmag/Instagram
@notyetmag/Instagram
@notyetmag/Instagram
In one meme shared by Ferrari, an arrow pointing to her shoes indicated the choice of sandals with socks may have riled the nun.
"Maybe that's why..." read the Italian caption.
Another meme showed the nun facing the crowd, appearing to asking them to join her in condemning the giggling women behind her.
“The first haters who heard blues and rock. It’s the devil." read the translated caption.
While an altercation prompted by bigotry aimed at the marginalized is unacceptable, people let down their guard and made an exception in this particular case.
@notyetmag/Instagram
Okay, maybe just this once.
Anti-LGBTQ+ attacks should never be tolerated at a time when the LGBTQ+ community and their allies are constantly battling discrimination and fighting for equality.
But it seems this nunsense was given a free pass.
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