Religious leaders protest summertime gay pride parade planned for Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (RNS) - A group of Jewish and Christian leaders from Israel and the United States has launched a petition campaign to prevent a gay pride parade from taking place in Jerusalem this summer.

The International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Pride Parade is held every five years. The parade is slated to take place in downtown Jerusalem on Aug. 28. It was held in Rome in 2000.

The petition, which aims to gather 1 million signatures, is the brainchild of Leo Giovinetti, senior pastor of Mission Valley Christian Fellowship in San Diego. The cause has also been taken up by the Rabbinical Alliance of America, which has 700 member rabbis, and several Orthodox Jewish Israeli parliamentarians.

Rabbi Yehuda Levin, director of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, did not mince words in his assessment.

"This parade constitutes a 10-day homosexual pornographic festival," Levin said while photos of scantily dressed participants in the Rome parade were circulated to the assembled journalists.