Overview
- Rome Pride announced on Thursday that Keshet Italia, Italy’s only Jewish LGBT group, may not enter a float for the June 20 parade because it did not explicitly endorse the organisers’ language calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
- The organisers say any group with a float must sign the event’s political platform and that their position on the ‘ongoing genocide in Gaza’ is non-negotiable, while stressing they do not hold Jewish people responsible for actions of the Israeli government.
- Keshet Italia called the move an exclusionary ‘political exam’ and said marching on foot is not a safe alternative after members were attacked at last year’s parade, which is why they sought a float for protection.
- The European Jewish Congress and Italian Jewish bodies have condemned Rome Pride’s decision, warning it risks making participation conditional on accepting specific political narratives and amounts to an ideological test.
- The dispute reflects wider tensions over public positions on the Israel–Gaza war — including UN experts’ accusations of ‘genocidal acts’ and Israel’s rejection of that label — and could deepen rifts within the LGBT movement and shape debate ahead of the June 20 event.