CARNAL NATION

Tel Aviv's Pride Parade is scheduled to be held tomorrow—but not if several rabbis and the Deputy Prime Minister have their way. Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mayor of Tel Aviv demanding that the parade be canceled or restricted to a small area of Tel Aviv and restrict entrance to those over 18. The letter was also signed by several rabbis and members of the Knesset (Israeli parliament). Uri Ariel, one of the Knesset members, said that the parade should be "more modest" than in previous years and should not portray any sexual content.

The letter's demands include that the Tel Aviv police should make sure that all dancers or performers on the floats are over 18, and, as Ynet News puts it, "that they are not carrying with them objects that can be construed in a sexual way." (We here at CarnalNation are still vigorously debating what exactly that means; your own thoughts can be shared in the comments below.)

The letter says in part, "The acceptance of the 'Pride Parade' as part of our lives does not mean we can't defend ourselves and those who need to be defended against it, especially children. The easily accessible sexual content of the parade exposes children to negative influences, and the public's interest is to defend the kids."

Mike Hamel, the Chairman of the GLBT Association in Israel, responded to the letter by saying, "Eli Yishai represents the dark culture of ignorance. He and the respectable rabbis and MKs need to take a little responsibility for what they see as their flock and stop ignoring the people in their community who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender."

Despite the best efforts of the Deputy PM and his cronies to bring tsuris down on the parade, as of this writing, at least, it seems that the parade will go on as planned.