A new commercial from Italian frozen foods company Findus, celebrates same-sex domesticity in a remarkably simple, relatable TV advert.

The landmark commercial features a young gay couple serving one of the pair’s mother a dinner. The truly groundbreaking moment comes when the couple comes out to one man’s mother, thinking she believes they are simply roommates. The advert does not show faces, but instead features three pairs of hands — those of the mother, her son Luca’s hands, and those of Luca’s boyfriend, Gianni.

“So Luca, what’s the surprise?”

“There are so many,” Luca replies with a nervous laugh

“Pasta in the microwave? Now that is definitely a surprise.”

“Luca told me it’s your favourite dish,” Gianni chimes in. Then, after a couple of lines of praise for the product, son Luca says, “Mom, I have another surprise…”

That’s when he comes out and let’s his mom know that Gianni is not just his roommate, but also his boyfriend. But Mom replies in a calm, knowing, and clearly accepting tone,:”I already knew.”, and she gently pats her son on the hand.

LGBTQ groups has spoken out positively about the advert, as it offers a strong counter-initiative to the regressive statements from Barilla, but because Italy has been known as slower than other leading EU nations in terms of evolving toward greater equality for LGBT people.

“It’s a positive step forward when different types of families are portrayed in ads, as they resonate with parts of society that are usually marginalized.”

Juris Lavrikovs, ILGA-Europe