Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi today dismissed calls to resign over his involvement with a runaway under-age Moroccan girl and created new uproar by claiming it was better to love beautiful girls than gays.
His comments sparked outrage from gay rights groups and fuelled new calls for him to step down.
Opposition politicians claim Mr Berlusconi abused his office by calling police in May when the then-17-year-old Moroccan nicknamed Ruby was detained for alleged theft.
Newspapers have reported that Mr Berlusconi told police a local party official would take custody of the girl, who had visited Mr Berlusconi's Milan villa at least once.
Even centre-right commentators in Mr Berlusconi's family-owned newspapers have criticised him for intervening in a possible criminal case. Mr Berlusconi's now-estranged ally, Gianfranco Fini, said his antics had embarrassed the country.
But Mr Berlusconi again defended his lifestyle and fondness for young women, telling a trade fair in Milan today it was "better to be passionate about a beautiful girl than a gay."
Gay rights group Arcigay demanded an apology.
The premier's comments "represent a dangerous incitement to prejudice and helps legitimise discrimination, injustice and suffering," Arcigay president Paolo Pantane told Mr Berlusconi's minister for equal opportunity, Mara Carfagna.
In response she defended Mr Berlusconi's record on anti-discrimination measures and said he had just been joking.
"(He) absolutely never intended to offend women or homosexuals," she said.
Mr Berlusconi assured supporters that his government still had a majority and would last the remaining three years of its five-year term. He said early elections would be a disaster for a country grappling with economic crisis.
He claimed that the Ruby scandal was whipped up by hostile, deceptive newspapers and again defended his decision to intervene in her case. Ruby was let go by police with no charges after Nicole Minetti, a party official who is also Mr Berlusconi's dental hygienist, took custody of her.
Mr Berlusconi said today he would do the same thing again.
"You will see when this is over that there was nothing more than an act of solidarity," he said.
Ruby, meanwhile, told Libero, a conservative newspaper close to Mr Berlusconi, that she would tell her version of the story on Thursday on a popular state-run TV talk show, but her lawyer later said there were no such plans. Ruby's comments have been inconsistent and prosecutors have reportedly questioned her credibility.
She repeated she never had intimate relations with the premier, although she said she "adored" him. She clarified that while another young woman linked to Mr Berlusconi, Noemi Letizia, referred to him as "papi," ("daddy") she called him "premier."
Mr Berlusconi's relationship with Letizia, an 18-year-old would-be model from Naples, sparked a scandal last year that prompted Mr Berlusconi's second wife to demand a divorce.
Soon after prostitute Patrizia D'Addario claimed she had spent a night with the premier and had tape recorded their encounter.