Gio’s been on quite a warpath since his art was removed from a local cafe on account of his bigoted opinions. Naturally, Gio denies being a bigot, is making a lot of very dubious arguments, says he’s the real victim in all this and has gone on the offensive. Gio has no case and his legal threats are ridiculous. We doubt any local journalist is going to choose to highlight this incident and the Ontario Human Rights Commission definitely have better things to do.
First of all, here are some of the transphobic posts that resulted in Gio’s art being removed from Scrabbalatte.
It’s not just a recent thing either.
We’d also like to note that this post came from the Canadian Combat Coalition National group on Facebook.
We thought it looked like some of his posts had been copied and pasted from other places on the web and indeed that is the case.
(https://www.higheredtoday.org/2018/10/17/paradox-free-speech-america-today/)
We’ll leave it to our readers to decide what to make of that, but that’s something to keep in mind when you browse his social media. Gio has also been on the clown world trip lately and it’s worth talking about his sense of “humor” for a moment.
Here’s a few links if you’re hearing about clown world for the first time. The short story is that it is a meme made by racists and clown world is the Jews running the world. How much Gio knows/understands that we don’t know, but his joke isn’t funny.
- https://forward.com/fast-forward/423812/white-nationalist-clowns-honk-honkler/
- https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/white-nationalists-adopt-clowns-as-their-next-racist-symbol-yes-seriously/
We don’t think this is funny at all either.
Gio can say all he wants to about the OK sign, but it is used as a hate symbol, context matters and the context here isn’t great. The same goes for the clown world meme he is fond of.
This isn’t a joke for the trans people, Jews and immigrants who these views directly harm. We’ve had several people mention this guy and his toxic presence in the arts scene to us now. His bigoted outbursts are not victimless or harmless and Gio’s human rights certainly not being violated by a cafe doing the right thing and taking down a piece of his art. It’s a slap in people’s faces when they walk into a place and see this guy’s artwork on the wall and they have every right to demand his stuff be taken down.
You can either support the marginalized people that are the target of Gio’s hate or you can support Gio.
You can not do both.
We’re disturbed that this hateful man is taken seriously by the local arts scene and appears to actually have quite a bit of support. We’d like to believe that his supporters are simply a few minor scenesters and downtown bar flies, but there are signs this is not the case. We’re going to redact this person’s name, but this is some astounding ignorance.
And it’s not re-assuring when you find this in their bio.
We’ve written a bit before about the problems with the arts community, so this is not a huge surprise for us, but it’s still disappointing and a reminder of how much work there is to be done.
Anti-Racist Sudbury 
This targeting is pathetic and illegal so keep it up. I stand by Giovanni because he is a righteous person, no harm ever. You want art taken down? And what does that say about you
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I stand with Gio 100% as well. This is disturbing and defamatory towards his person. I don’t see Gio having torn down monuments and desecrate his country…unlike what can be said bht the left and their agenda.
Equality of human rights exists for both sides.
Enough of destroying lives and character over personal opinion. Perception is at play in destroying a man’s livelihood. This is not right!!
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I hope you get sued, or better yet- a lobotomy.
Gio is a dear friend, and a strong voice for the innocent and vulnerable, whether it be children or elderly, and even… Wait for it!!! Homosexuals!! Gasp!! He speaks for those who clearly need protection in a world that seems to be becoming more tolerant of pedophilia and elderly abuse everyday. They are to be protected, not exploited. What part of that isn’t clicking in that tiny brain of yours?! Your ignorance is astonishing. It’s YOUR views that are frightening, not Gio’s. He is NOT a homophobe or racist.
I am the mother of a trans child who was raised to have common sense, self respect, morals, and knows the difference between right and wrong. And what is really sad, is that she’s actually embarrassed FOR the LGBTQ community and this radical course so many have taken.
Open your eyes and LOOK at the broad spectrum of perversion you’re supporting.
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What kind of obsessive pathetic low life stalker is writing this nonsense? You even admit to creeping the bios of anyone who comments on Gio’s posts. Keeping your identity hidden only shows how deeply depraved you truly are. You are a coward and a lonely mindless troll.
You say you’re actually “disturbed” that Gio has a ton of support. How about doing some real sleuthing, and sit down with Gio and find out WHY he’s surrounded by people who respect and love him. I’ve known him for almost 20 years and NEVER has he demonstrated any of which you accuse him of.
Who are you exactly? A jealous artist who couldn’t get YOUR art hung in a downtown cafe?
Or are you just that lonely and bored?
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This is a narcisitic antagonistic garbage piece purposefully written for bullying purposes. Never have I seen such slanderous misleading false comments about somebody since I left the Trump fan page. This actually is FAKE NEWS & completely DISCREDITS your website, writer & organization.
Why don’t you go after real racists in our community. Stop wasting everybody’s time & destroying a citizen’s livelihood over an obvious person grudge.
Pathetic. I pity you.
Mr. Presenza is great artist, friend, son & this writer needs to stop. Nobody believes you. Anybody with 2 cents can see.
🖕
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I happen to know Gio for a time now and he does get on a rant about people who abuse children, pedophiles etc. He is an artist in every sense of the word and these claims about him are from those who are void of life and need to attack. As far as the hate symbol goes. Look back to not long ago when it’s meaning was “perfect”. Because some moron decided it meant hate, you quickly labelled Gio a racist. This attack on Gio is shallow and unfounded and your displays of evidence are at best crap
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Whoever the writer of this article, should be fired and sued. This is clear deformation of character. He is an artist. He is not racist! He is a humanitarian. I’ve known this man for years. He IS all about the people. Please be open enough to show yourself as a writer. If not, he will always be bigger than you. Have some balls if you can.
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You are morons. His posts legitimately question the effects of certain things on children, and nowhere has he ever said that anyone is not worthy of equal rights, except those that have/are actively hurting children, which is a commonly shared opinion. Have any of you people had a conversation with him about your concerns before slandering him and affecting his livelihood? You call yourselves antiracists…so obviously racism is of concern to you and you are painting this person as a white supremacist. I ask you, what the hell kind of white supremacist would draw an image of an interracial couple kissing and then gift it to them for the wedding which he then attended, and was proudly photographed next to the artwork? Yes I am talking about my wedding, which Gio posted videos of, stating how cool it was that we had African (Rwandese) dancers perform for us, etc. So please, do tell me, what kind of racist is willing to do this?
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Unbelievable that you guys would even think to try and ruin thus guys livelihood…we all have our own opinion ..while reading this ..I find that you guys are standing behind those who are truly despicable people ..those that pry on the innocence …or try changing people into believing that they are not who they were when born…we all have a right to be who we are on our OWN….people that condemn others for not following your way is nothing short of HARASSMENT..and this article is in my OPINION just that …I stand with Gio
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slander is a serious thing and i hooe you get sued
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This article is absurd. We know Gio well and these things you say are truly extreme and twisted. To attack a man for his opinions in this way is extremely unintolerant . We will be looking into this but feel extremely uncomfortable with such blatant attacks on someone with different views.
Shame on you. We will be contacting you soon and look forward to meeting the writer of this article
Regards
Stanley Bernstein
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Hey “Stanley,”
Would love to hear about the follow-up you did with ARS.
Also, were you intentionally posing as a lawyer for GDP?
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