Jewish organizations and antisemitism watchdogs condemned a decision by organizers of the Rome Pride parade to bar Jewish LGBTQ groups from participating unless they explicitly condemned Israel over the war in Gaza, calling the move discriminatory and deeply hypocritical.
The controversy erupted after Rome Pride organizers announced that Keshet Italia and Keshet Europe would not be permitted to participate in the June 20 parade with an official float because they had failed to “distance themselves” from what organizers described as the “ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
In a public statement, organizers said participation in the parade “presupposes a clear and unequivocal stance condemning the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government.”
The decision triggered immediate backlash from Jewish organizations across Europe, with critics accusing Rome Pride of imposing political loyalty tests on Jewish participants that would never be demanded of any other minority group.
Shannon Seban, Director of European Affairs at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, condemned the move as “a blatant act of antisemitic discrimination.”
“When Pride excludes Jews, it betrays the very principles upon which the movement was built,” Seban said. “No other minority community is routinely asked to publicly denounce its homeland, distance itself from fellow members of its people, or adopt approved political positions simply to participate in civic life. Yet increasingly, Jews are being treated as conditional participants in public spaces.”
Seban added that Jewish LGBTQ individuals “should never be forced to choose between their sexual identity and their Jewish identity” and warned that parts of Europe were witnessing “the normalization of anti-Jewish exclusion under the banner of a fake and hypocritical social justice.”
“The weaponization of Pride spaces against Jews is unacceptable,” she said. “Antisemitism has no place in the LGBTQ movement.”
Keshet Italia, the only Italian Jewish LGBTQ organization, accused parade organizers of remaining silent after alleged antisemitic incidents directed at Jewish participants during last year’s event.
The incident comes amid growing concern over rising antisemitism in Italy and across Europe since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. Reports over the past year have documented increasing incidents targeting visibly Jewish individuals, Jewish institutions, and pro-Israel groups in several European countries.
The controversy has also reignited wider debates about the treatment of Jewish groups within progressive and LGBTQ spaces internationally. Similar disputes over Jewish symbols, Israeli flags, and Zionist participation have emerged at Pride events in cities including London, Chicago, Washington, and Brussels in recent years.
Seban called on Rome’s municipal leadership to intervene publicly.
“We call on the organizers of Rome Pride to immediately reverse this discriminatory decision and publicly reaffirm that Jewish LGBTQ voices are welcome without conditions, intimidation, or ideological coercion,” she said.
“We also call on the Mayor of Rome and Italian political leaders to unequivocally condemn this exclusion and ensure that events claiming to champion inclusion do not become vehicles for antisemitism.”