Jewish pride flag banned from Chicago pride parade

A lesbian pride parade in Chicago has come under fire after officials asked people marching with a Jewish Pride flag to leave the march.

A representative of the organising group has told a local newspaper that the women carry a rainbow flag featuring the Star of David were asked to leave because the flags “made people feel unsafe,” and that the march was “anti-Zionist” and “pro-Palestinian.”

The group posted a statement to their social media accounts saying that they did not welcome people who they viewed as zionists to the event.

“Sadly, our celebration of dyke, queer and trans solidarity was partly overshadowed by our decision to ask three individuals carrying Israeli flags superimposed on rainbow flags to leave the rally. This decision was made after they repeatedly expressed support for Zionism during conversations with Dyke March Collective members.”

THe group has said they are anti-zionist and rejected suggestions that their actions were antisemitic.

Laurel Grauer, one of the woman who were asked to leave the parade said she’d never previously encountered someone being offended by the flag.

“They were telling me to leave because my flag was a trigger to people that they found offensive,” Grauer said. “Prior to this [march] I had never been harassed or asked to leave and I had always carried the flag with me.”

The decision has been criticsed by the US based LGBTI rights organsiation the Human Rights Campaign.

The controversy follows a controversial move in Philadelphia where activists added a black and brown stripe to the traditional rainbow flag to draw attention to racism in the LGBTI community.

Image: From wikipedia by Sarah Stierch, Marchers at San Francisco Pride 2014  Creative Commons 4.0 (image has been cropped)