wfn.org | Gay Cleric Voices Support for WorldPride in Jerusalem

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N E W S   R E L E A S E
Metropolitan Community Churches
_www.MCCchurch.org_ (http://www.MCCchurch.org)	  .  _info@MCCchurch.org_ 
(mailto:info@MCCchurch.org) 

FOR IMMEDIATE  RELEASE: March 31, 2005

Internationally Known Gay Cleric Voices Support  for WorldPride Gay Festival 
in Jerusalem

"We are coming to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is our Holy City, too,"	says the 
Reverend Dr. Troy D. Perry, founder of world's largest gay church  group 

Los Angeles -- An internationally-known gay cleric entered the	debate over 
the upcoming WorldPride festival and parade in Jerusalem today,  noting "We
are 
deeply saddened that once again, religion has been used to attack  God's gay 
and lesbian children." The Reverend Dr. Troy D. Perry, founder of the  43,000

member Metropolitan Community Churches, one of the world's largest  
predominantly gay organizations, voiced his strong support for the
international  gay 
event schedule for Jerusalem in August 2005.. 

Perry, who is co-chair	of an Interfaith Gay Clergy Conference to be held at 
WorldPride, said, "We are  coming to Jerusalem. And we are coming with gay
and 
lesbian and bisexual and  transgender clergy of many faith communities. 
Jerusalem is our Holy City,  too."

On Thursday, Christian, Jewish and Moslem clerics in Israel  denounced the 
WorldPride Festival, asking city officials to ban the  observance.

"They have a right to their views," said Perry, "but they  don't have a right

to globalize their prejudice and infringe on the freedoms of  others. True 
spiritual values are about inclusion and welcome, not attacks and  threats."

Perry, a long time human rights activist, is the first openly  gay person to 
serve on the Los Angeles Human Rights Commission and is a past	delegate to 
the White House Conference on AIDS and the White House Conference on  Hate 
Crimes. In 1998, he was one of 100 U.S. religious leaders honored at a	White
House 
breakfast by U.S. President Bill Clinton for their contributions to  American

society.

At a Thursday press conference in Israel, Rabbi Yehuda	Levin, of the 
Rabbinical Alliance of America, called the festival "the spiritual  rape of
the Holy 
City," adding, "This is not the homo land, it is the Holy  Land."

"The religious voices attacking World Pride are loud and shrill,  but they 
are not representative of the growing spiritual movements that welcome	gays
and 
lesbians," said Perry.

"Thirty-six years of activism for gays	and lesbians have taught me never to 
be intimidated by the voices of hate and  ridicule and exclusion. They only 
make us stronger and more convinced in our  work for equality. And this
attack 
is no different," said Perry. "I'm inviting  everyone I know to come to 
WorldPride with me in August."

"Many of us  will be gathering in Jerusalem not only to celebrate gay pride, 
but also to  celebrate our spiritual pride," said Perry. "We're coming as 
pilgrims to pay  homage to the three faiths of Christianity, Judaism, and
Islam 
that hold  Jerusalem sacred."

(END)

For More Information, Contact:
Jim  Birkitt
MCC Communications Department
8704 Santa Monica Boulevard
West  Hollywood, CA  90069
Tel. (310) 360-8640
Fax (310)  360-8680
E-Mail: _info@MCCchurch.org_ (mailto:info@MCCchurch.org) 
Web: _www.MCCchurch.org_ (http://www.MCCchurch.org)