Rome Pride has barred Italy’s only Jewish LGBT+ group, Keshet Italia, from its upcoming annual parade, citing the organisation’s failure to explicitly condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide.
The decision has drawn swift condemnation from Jewish organisations.
Following a meeting with representatives from Keshet Italia and Keshet Europe, Rome Pride issued a statement saying that “the conditions” did not exist for the groups to enter a float into the 20 June event.
“Pride is an open and free demonstration,” the organisers said.
They added that anyone who shared the movement’s founding values could join the march – but said that having a float meant signing up to Rome Pride’s political platform.
“Our position on the ongoing genocide in Gaza by the State of Israel is clear,” the statement said.
Rome Pride said that it distinguished between Israel’s government and the Jewish community, including Jewish LGBT+ people.
It would never hold the latter responsible for what it called war crimes by a “genocidal government”, it said.
However, the statement added, Keshet Italia bore responsibility for not distancing itself from the “ongoing genocide in Gaza” and for making what Pride organisers described as an unacceptable lexical distinction in a recent statement.
United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel has repeatedly dismissed such accusations.
Pride ‘dropped the mask’
Keshet Italia protested against its exclusion from the parade.
“Roma Pride has dropped the mask,” the group said. “With an official communique, it admits it excluded us because we did not pass their ‘political exam’.”
The European Jewish Congress also criticised the move, saying that the decision risked making the participation of Jewish associations conditional on accepting specific narratives.
“No one should be subjected to an ideological test in order to participate in a movement founded on inclusion, dignity and equal rights,” the EJC said.
Gay Pride events are seen as celebrations by LGBT+ communities that promote visibility, equality and acceptance. However, Rome Pride said its political platform was not “a buffet” from which participants could pick and choose.