WorldPride postponed.

Just after we went to press with a story on the upcoming WorldPride celebration in Jerusalem [July/August 2005], organizers pushed the controversial event from this summer to August 6-12, 2006. "[It] was postponed due to the fact that the Israeli government decided to pull out of the Gaza Strip at the same time WorldPride was scheduled," says Russell Murphy, copresident of InterPride, the organization that licenses the WorldPride title. While Murphy admits that concerns about increasing violence weighed into the decision, Or Goren of Jerusalem WorldPride organizer Jerusalem Open House says it had more to do with "the logistics of working with the police at the upcoming troubled times." Though he maintains that pressure from local Orthodox religious leaders was not a factor, religious opposition to gays in Jerusalem remains strong. At the city's June 30 gay pride parade, which attracted approximately 2,000 people, an Orthodox Jewish man stabbed three participants (all were treated for non-life-threatening injuries). "While this was a shocking event for us all," says Goren, "we are determined to move on--not just with our plans for future pride events, including WorldPride 2006, but also with our continued commitment to be an integral part of the mixed community in Jerusalem."