GenQ - For the not so straight individual

Jerusalem officials said Thursday they will ban the annual gay pride parade set for next week, claiming the march would offend many of the holy city's residents.Organizers of the parade appealed to Israel's Supreme Court to repeal the ruling, saying the decision was a violation of the homosexual community's freedom of expression.

The city council, including the mayor, decided "it is not right to allow the march or other planned activities to take place in the streets of Jerusalem, fearing that it will create an uproar, offend a wide sector of city residents and out of fear of public disturbances," Eitan Meir, director general of City Hall, said in a letter to organizers.

A majority of Jerusalem's more than 600,000 residents are either Orthodox Jews or Muslim or Christian Palestinians ? conservative communities that oppose homosexuality.

The march, scheduled for June 30, was to be the fourth annual parade. The three previous parades have passed peacefully, attended by several thousand people and with only minor incidents of vandalism and protest.

The organizers of the parade, the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance, appealed to the court to allow the march to go ahead.

"The actions of the mayor, and those carrying out his policies, are injurious to the values of freedom of expression," said Open House director Hagai El-Ad.

The city decision comes just weeks after the Jerusalem Open House postponed WorldPride 2005, a 10-day gathering that includes street parties, workshops and a gay film festival, until August 2006.