taking one for the team

yikes...this is quite a story...i hope it gets worldwide press and not just relegated to the pink news circuit...people need to hear about this

italian comedian faces prison for joke about the pope and gays

(Rome) Italian stand-up comic Sabina Guzzanti is under investigation for “vilification” of the Pope for telling an audience that Benedict XVI would “go to hell and be pursued by two big, gay and very active devils.”

Pope Benedict is known for his vocal opposition to LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.

Guzzanti was appearing at an anti-politics rally organized by satirist Beppy Grillo in Rome last July. If convicted, Guzzanti could be imprisoned for up to five years.

The Rome city prosecutor, Giovanni Ferrara, has asked the federal justice minister for permission to start criminal proceedings against Guzzanti. It is a criminal offense in Italy to “offend the honor” of the Pope or the Italian president.

Ferrara said that Guzzanti’s comments went beyond satire.

The Union of Christian Democrats, part of the ruling conservative coalition government in Italy said it would support the charges.

“These gratuitous insults must be punished,” said Luca Volonte, a spokesperson for the party.

Guzzanti is no stranger to controversy. She recently caused a firestorm by suggesting that Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s equal opportunities minister Mara Carfagna - who had previously worked as a topless model - got her job in exchange for performing oral sex on the Italian Premier.