Jewish LGBTQ group reaches deal to march in Rome Pride after float banned over Gaza

Keshet Italia hails ‘victory for Pride’ after compromise mediated by mayor lets group march on foot with extra security and gives it a spot on next year’s coordinating committee

Jewish LGBTQ group Keshet Italia, whose float was barred from Saturday’s Rome Pride parade over the war in Gaza, announced Friday that it reached an agreement with organizers to participate “with its own delegation and symbols,” and to join the coordinating committee for next year’s march.

“We consider this agreement a victory for Pride and for the values it represents,” said Keshet, Italy’s only Jewish LGBTQ group, in an Italian-language press release.

The group thanked Rome Mayor Robert Gualtieri for his help in mediating the agreement, and the Rome Pride coordinating committee for its “willingness to engage in dialogue.”

Keshet was not expected to contribute to the more than 30 floats in Saturday’s parade, but would instead “march on foot in a special section we’re organizing with other groups to ensure everyone’s safety,” Rome Pride spokesman Mario Colamarino told Italian news agency ANSA.

Keshet spokespeople who announced the agreement at a meeting in Rome also stressed the group would march under special protection, ANSA said. The group and other Jewish participants in Italian Pride events have previously reported coming under verbal and physical assault.

The “well-attended” Friday meeting drew politicians and activists who supported a missive signed this week by 2,000 cultural figures urging Gualtieri to ensure Keshet Italia’s participation in Rome Pride, the group said.

Organizers of the parade said last month that they had barred Keshet Italia from operating a float over the Jewish group’s failure to “distance itself” from the “ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

Groups that want to be formally recognized in the parade with a float must sign onto Rome Pride’s political platform, which includes a condemnation of the “genocide in Gaza” — a charge Israel vigorously rejects.

In an apparent attempt to reconcile with the demand, Keshet Italia issued a statement earlier in May that lamented the suffering of Palestinians, but expressed discomfort at applying the genocide label to the devastating war Israel has waged in Gaza since the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023.

Antisemitic incidents have soared worldwide amid the war in Gaza. In Italy, the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation reported a record 963 incidents in 2025, including physical assaults and synsagogue desecration.