State Sen. Scott Wiener (D) of California, a gay and Jewish candidate for Congress from San Francisco, is speaking out over a decision by organizers of Rome Pride to bar a major Jewish LGBTQ+ organization from the event because it “failed to distance itself from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
“This is straight up antisemitic & reflective of Jews being pushed out of progressive spaces unless we meet litmus test standards applied to no one else — only to Jews,” Wiener said in a post to X on Tuesday. “If you’re a ‘good Jew,’ you’re in. If you’re a ‘bad Jew,’ you’re out.” The one-time San Francisco supervisor is running to replace former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
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Rome Pride’s decision to bar the group Keshet Italia from the city’s Pride parade is the latest clash between Pride organizers, Jewish LGBTQ+ groups, and supporters of Palestine triggered by the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli government’s invasion of Gaza that followed.
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“We are fully capable of distinguishing between the Israeli government and the Jewish community, made up of both LGBTQIA+ and non-LGBTQIA+ people, and we could never attribute to the latter responsibility for the criminal acts of war carried out by a genocidal government,” Rome Pride said in a statement explaining its decision.
“We do, however, hold Keshet Italia responsible for having failed, and continue to fail, to distance itself from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Keshet Italia responded by saying, “Roma Pride has shown its true colors. Our crime? To be Jewish.”
“This is just the last step on a hostile path,” the group added. “Last year, during the parade, we received explicit antisemitic attacks, and the Roma Pride chose to remain silent, refusing to condemn them. Today, that silence has become active complicity.”
Pride organizations have responded with support for different sides in the conflict, revealing a fraught debate with conflicting allegiances as the groups try to navigate the repercussions of the October 7 attacks and the longtime opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
In 2024 in Australia, just months after the Israeli government’s full-scale invasion of Gaza, the anti-Zionist group Pride in Protest called members of Dayenu, Sydney’s Jewish LGBTQ+ group, “proud of genocide and the mass murder of children.” Both marched that year and in 2025.
But following last December’s terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach, Mardi Gras organizers banned Pride in Protest from the parade hours before it started over posts using inflammatory language on social media. Officials cited a breach of the group’s code of conduct.
In Belgium this month, Brussels Pride announced it would bar Jewish LGBTQ+ group Mazel Pride from displaying the Star of David or using the word “Jewish” on banners and other signage as a condition to take part in the parade, citing safety concerns.
“The message we ultimately receive is that our presence is acceptable only if it is not too visible,” the group responded, even while agreeing to the request. Weeks later, Belgium Pride reversed its decision and dropped the no-signage condition.
In 2024, Keshet UK withdrew from the London Pride parade unilaterally, saying they lacked support from organizers to ensure marchers’ safety.
“We shared our concerns in a spirit of open dialogue, and made reasonable requests, including antisemitism awareness training for the stewards,” the group said. “Our requests were turned down.”
Two years later, London Pride, now under new leadership, has agreed to antisemitism awareness training, and Keshet UK is returning to the march.
All of the controversies surrounding Jewish LGBTQ+ groups and Pride celebrations involve accusations that conflate opposition to the Israeli government’s actions with antisemitism.
In the United States last year, San Diego Pride’s invitation to Kehlani, a vocal supporter of Palestine, was met with outrage by Jewish LGBTQ+ groups, who accused the nonbinary singer of calling for violence against Jews with the message, “Long live the Intifada” in the music video for her song “Next 2 U.”
The invitation followed Cornell University’s decision to drop the singer from a year-end celebration on campus, which was accompanied by an explicit charge of antisemitism by the school’s president, Michael I. Kotlikoff.
“I have heard grave concerns from our community that many are angry, hurt, and confused” that Cornell “would feature a performer who has espoused antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media.
“While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views,” Kotlikoff wrote, Cornell’s event “is about uniting our community, not dividing it.”
“I am not antisemitic, nor anti-Jew,” the queer artist responded in an Instagram post a few days later. “I am anti-genocide. I am anti the actions of the Israeli government, I am anti the extermination of an entire people, I am anti the bombing of innocent children, men, women — that’s what I’m anti.”
Temple Emanu-El of San Diego didn’t buy the defense.
“No one gets to tell Jews what is and is not antisemitic,” said member Laura Stratton.
But organizers stuck with Kehlani, despite opposition from the city’s gay mayor, Todd Gloria, and an announced boycott of her performance by local Jewish LGBTQ+ groups.
“We made this decision after having engaged with community and religious leaders on both sides,” a spokesperson for the group said. “Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that removing Kehlani from the program would go against our fundamental belief in individual free speech, a cornerstone of our democratic system.”
The group cited the Trump administration “aggressively trying to silence our community” as part of their reasoning.
In April, San Diego Pride addressed the breach. The group announced that they, too, would institute antisemitic prevention training, in service of “repair work” with the Jewish community.
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