Officials at the
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission
are denying a report in Boston's Bay
Windows newspaper that they are boycotting this
summer's World Pride celebration set to take place in Jerusalem.
In addition, IGLHRC has "not yet made a decision
of any kind related to our participation in World
Pride," said executive director Paula Ettelbrick.
"Over the last 10 months, the board and staff have been
actively engaged in gathering information, soliciting
viewpoints from our colleagues around the world,
talking directly with Jerusalem-based organizers, and
debating among ourselves to determine the scope of the
organization's participation in World Pride. No
decision about the scope of that participation has
been made."
The column in Bay Windows cited part of a
memo sent by the commission's International Advisory
Committee soliciting feedback.
"The columnist did not speak to anyone at IGLHRC
to clarify where the organization was in its
decision-making process," Ettelbrick said. "It appears
that readers of his column were left with the erroneous
impression that IGLHRC had decided to boycott World Pride in
Jerusalem and/or had made a final decision not to
participate. The e-mails and phone calls in response
to the column make it clear that we needed to publicly
clarify our position." (Advocate.com)