'Children shouldn't have to see abomination in street'
With Tel Aviv pride parade scheduled for Friday afternoon, religious city council members demand event be moved to closed arena
Two days after the Knesset approved in a first reading two bills aimed at preventing the gay pride parade from taking place in Jerusalem, or in any other place in the country, the Tel Aviv pride parade is set to take place on Friday at noon.
Doron Levi, a city councilman on behalf of Shas, was among one of the sole voices demanding that the parade be moved into a closed arena.
"Young children should not have to see people committing acts of abomination in the city's main streets. Tel Aviv must not be sacrificed for the sake of Jerusalem," said Levi who also slammed the municipality for cooperating with the parade.
"Hanging flags all over the city proves that the municipality is legitimizing the parade. Over the next few days we will be submitting a letter of complaint to the mayor over his support of the parade," he said, adding that the right venue of "these people" would be a closed off park or amusement park.
Levi also lamented the fact that the bill proposals submitted on Thursday have not yet been passed by the Knesset in the second and third readings. "
Arieh Shumer said that next year officials should sit down with representatives from the gay and lesbian community and discuss moving the parade to a closed arena, a more convenient venue.
"Every parade inside Tel Aviv disrupts daily life and traffic. I'm not against their actions, and if the community wants to march in Tel Aviv, it can, but not in a place where it blocks the traffic.
Yael Dayan: Objection pathetic
Deputy Mayor on behalf of Meretz, Yael Dayan, slammed the attempts to cancel the parade.
"This is a pathetic battle that isn't worth having energy invested in it. In Tel Aviv we respect the strictly-Orthodox minority, and no one is demanding any preconditions of them. Therefore they certainly cannot have the audacity to demand its cancellation. Those objecting the parade are wasting time because in Tel Aviv there is no question as to the importance of the of the pride parade," said Dayan.
According to Dayan, the parade itself is only a small part of what the city has done to its gay community. "The parade is just what's visible above the surface, our daily activities are much broader in their compassion.
"By the end of this year we will open a recreational center for the community and I myself am
responsible for a group of youths and the elderly, all members of the community. Tel Aviv is one of the leading cities in the world in its treatment of gays and lesbians.
City councilman Arieh Shumer also objected to the parade, on the ground that it made traffic unbearable.
