Activists Planning to Stage '06 World 'Gay Pride' Celebration in Jerusalem
by James L. Lambert
February 17, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Homosexual activists are planning to stage a massive "gay pride" party and parade this summer in Jerusalem. Jerry Falwell says that's a mistake that could backfire on the homosexual community worldwide.
Jerusalem WorldPride 2006, scheduled for August 6-12, 2006, describes itself as "a massive demonstration of LGBT [lesbian, bay, bisexual, transgender] pride and human rights" and an opportunity for the homosexual community to make a "global statement of pride and tolerance."
"The message sent from Jerusalem WP will echo worldwide, redefining LGBT identity, faith, and vision," says the event's website.
Local activists held a local Jerusalem pride event last year after an August 2005 international event was scrapped and rescheduled for this coming August. Rev. Leo Giovinetti, an American pastor who has longtime connections to Israel, informed the religious community of last year's planned WorldPride event scheduled for the Holy City. At that time the clergyman distributed petitions, signed by numerous members of the Knesset and many representatives from Christian and orthodox Jewish faith communities, that objected to a similar event scheduled for 2005.
James Hartline, a former homosexual and a member of Giovinetti's church in San Diego, informed his pastor of last year's event. He is deeply saddened after hearing that activists again plan on organizing an event this year. Hartline contends that Jerusalem represents the very foundation of his faith. He cannot understand "why anyone would want to engage in sodomy and pornography at the holy sites of our religious heritage." Hartline says that people in his church are heartbroken about the news of this event.
"Christians are crying at the sight of our Jewish brothers and sisters being beaten and removed by force from their homes in the pullout from their settlements," Hartline says. "Then to see, in the midst of this tragedy, nearly naked homosexuals and pornographers march through the city is a cruel display."
He continues by saying that "gay activists who regularly demand respect and special rights because of their claims of abuse and discrimination are clearly not willing to extend that same demanded courtesy to the hurting and wounded citizens of Israel."
Previous international "gay pride" celebrations have taken place in Amsterdam and Rome. One of the organizers for Jerusalem WorldPride 2006, Hagai El-Ad, explains why this summer's event is slated for Jerusalem:
"The struggle for acceptance and pride is particularly pointed in Jerusalem, a city that is home to three of the world's great religions. The greatest traditions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism affirm the dignity of human beings and our creation in the divine image. Yet these same faiths have often been the source of hostility and intolerance to LGBT people. WorldPride 2006 will bring thousands of us to Jerusalem to confront preconception with reality, prejudice with an opportunity for understanding, in a way that will capture the attention of the world."
Rev. Jerry Falwell believes the homosexual community is making a mistake in staging the upcoming event in the historic city of Jerusalem. "While the people involved [in WorldPride] are sincere, they must know that that the Judeo-Christian beliefs still see homosexuality as sin," he says. "After 2,000 years there has been no shift of opinion on the part of Christians and Jews who believe in the Bible."
Falwell contends that homosexuality is a chosen lifestyle and that it is important for Christians to love homosexuals despite the disagreement over that lifestyle.
Still, the founder of Liberty University and the senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, thinks that El-Ad and other homosexual activists are making the mistake of staging their event in Jerusalem as a way of making an "in-your-face statement to Christians and Jews."
Staging the event in the Holy City, says Falwell, "will hurt their cause internationally."
James L. Lambert, a frequent contributor to AgapePress, is the author of Porn in America (Huntington House), which can be purchased through the American Family Association. He is a licensed real-estate mortgage loan sales agent and can be contacted through his website.
