Lucio Dalla's family protest at Vannacci claiming song as anthem

ROME, JUN 15 -

The family of late singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla on Monday protested after far-right general-turned-politician Roberto Vannacci picked one of his greatest hits, 'Futura'', as the anthem of his new party National Future (FN).

Dalla, who died in 2012 aged 68, was a closeted gay.

Vannacci was suspended from the army after penning an anti-woke bestseller three years ago in which he said, among other things, that gays are not normal.

Closing FN's two-day launch on Sunday, Vannacci said "these futurist avant-gardes will be characterized by this beautiful song." "We were not asked for any authorization, and if a political party's use of Dalla's songs is always an inappropriate use, it is even more unfortunate when it comes from someone so distant from Lucio's thought and world," commented Dea Melotti, cousin of the Bolognese artist and vice president of the Lucio Dalla Foundation, to the online edition of Repubblica Bologna.

In 'Futura,' written in Berlin in 1979, Dalla imagines the story of two lovers against the backdrop of the Berlin Wall.

Dalla, whose longest relationship was with his manager-cum-companion Marco Alemanno, also occasionally had affairs with women.

Dalla was outed as gay after his funeral, at which his longterm associate and partner Alemanno, with whom he had shared a house, spoke movingly of their relationship.

The singer had not publicly acknowledged this during his life, saying in a 1979 interview "Non mi sento omosessuale" ("I do not feel gay").

This outing sparked debate about Italian society's attitudes towards homosexuality.

Dalla was openly Leftist and also a practicing Roman Catholic.

The Italian far right's new poster boy Vannacci, whose FN is polling at around 5-6%, is a pro-family, pro-life campaigner who has styled himself as a modern-day Julius Caesar.

He was unaware that the Roman general and dictator was perhaps the ancient world's most notorious bisexual.

The Lucio Dalla Foundation said later that Vannacci was not granted authorization for using 'Futura'.

"We warn anyone against the improper use of his works; and we reserve the right to take protective (legal) action," it said.

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