Members of the Jewish community in Brighton have expressed outrage at the decision of Brighton & Hove Pride to exclude a Jewish group from attending this weekend’s parade.

Despite welcoming Jewish and Proud’s application in May and reserving a provisional place for the group in the parade, Brighton & Hove Pride later announced that the application had not been approved, saying the group “did not meet the criteria for the Pride Community Parade’s clear aims of representing, promoting and celebrating local LGBTQI+ communities”.

Jewish and Proud, a Jewish group based in Brighton, which describes itself as a “community activist group”  said they would instead be assembling in the area close to the parade.

A spokesperson for Jewish and Proud told the JC: “That first meeting with [Brighton & Hove Pride] was so positive, and we came away feeling so optimistic. They said they were so pleased to have received our application and told us we’d be a lovely group to join in on the march. We talked logistics, security, everything seemed fine.”

Brighton & Hove Pride organisers then called Jewish and Proud to request more details and asked for a second meeting to be set up, one which proved to be “disastrous and incredibly painful”, the Jewish and Proud spokesperson said.

“They spent the whole-time nitpicking, again and again, over anything they could. They started saying they were not sure they could offer us a place because Jewish and Proud doesn’t fit the criteria, but they were so loose about what that meant and were never specific.

“I pleaded with them, saying we have between 50 and 100 Jewish LGBT+ people who want to march and celebrate pride. We expressed how painful it has been for many in the Jewish LGBT+ community since October 7, how they feel betrayed by their own community and had lost friends.”

Jewish and Proud said they implored the parade organisers to “help us turn the tide on antisemitism, stand with the Jewish community during this time of rising antisemitism in academia, in the media. We were in tears at the meeting. I was literally begging them, but they turned round and said no. The way they treated us was shocking and painful.”

The spokesperson added: “This weekend, we’re not going to be silent. We have on our shirts the word ‘love’, and that’s what we’ll aim to do. We will be playing music, and our banner says: ‘No pride in antisemitism’.”

They said that members of the Jewish delegation, some of whom were expected to come from as far away as Manchester, would be carrying the Pride flag with an enlarged yellow strip to remember the more than 115 hostages still held in Gaza, as well as displaying Israeli flags to offset the “sea of Palestinian flags” they were anticipating.

“The thought of attending Pride amid a sea of Palestinian flags with no Israeli flags present at all, when, in reality, if you’re gay living in the Middle East, Israel is the only place you want to be, feels really wrong and exclusionary,” the spokesperson said.

Members and supporters of the Jewish LGBT+ community stand on the sidelines of this weekend's Brighton & Hove Pride parade (Photo: Jewish and Proud)

In an email from Brighton & Hove Pride to Jewish and Proud about the decision not to include them in the parade, they wrote: “When your full submission was received and reviewed, the application did not meet the criteria for participation.

"There was no information about the group’s LGBTQI+ status or local LGBTQI+ activity and this meant the group did not meet the criteria for the Pride Community Parade’s aims of representing, promoting and celebrating local LGBTQI+ communities.

“The documents provided in the application stated the group aim, that we fully support, is to challenge antisemitism in Sussex.”

Brighton & Hove Pride added that when they contacted Jewish and Proud for clarity, “you confirmed that you are an organisation with members who are LGBTQI+ but that you are not an LGBTQI+ organisation, nor are you an LGBTQI+ network or staff forum within a larger organisation.

"We have many non-LGBTQI+ groups asking to join the parade and the applications are consistently declined.”

They said that every year, they had more requests for participation than spaces available and that priority was given to “established LGBTQI+ groups who are active in the local area”.

According to the Jewish and Proud spokesperson, their application was turned down after Brighton & Hove Pride received a letter from an undisclosed sender, which apparently accused the Jewish delegation of being “far right and agitators”.

Another letter was sent to the organisers of the Pride march by Queers 4 Palestine, who threatened to boycott the parade if a number of demands were not met. These included a public and formal acknowledgement of the “genocide in Palestine”, dropping Coca-Cola “for its complicity in genocide and apartheid” and only giving a platform to artists “who do not have evidenced ties to Zionism, Islamophobia, and Racism”.

A Palestinian flag on display at the Brighton & Hove Pride parade this weekend

Brighton Queers 4 Palestine has since decided to snub attending the parade as an official group despite Brighton & Hove Pride criticising the “the acts of violence, death and destruction in Gaza”.

In a letter to Queers 4 Palestine, Brighton & Hove Pride called for the release of the hostages, but did not condemn the October 7 massacre. They also said that future sponsorships, including Coca Cola, would be reviewed.

Queers Against Antisemitism, an international LGBT+ advocacy group, posted on social media they were “deeply distressed” by the Queers 4 Palestine letter and Brighton & Hove Pride’s response to it.

They wrote: “Israel stands as a lone beacon of queer rights and equality in the Middle East, the only country with a Pride parade and protection for its LGBTQ+ citizens, both Jewish and Palestinian.

"Rather than reviewing relationships with companies operating in Israel, Brighton and Hove Pride parade should scrutinise relationships with companies operating in the 64 countries that criminalise homosexuality.”

They added: “Pride must stand with the LGBTQ+ community against antisemitism and hate…Our shared history of facing discrimination and prejudice demands solidarity.”

In a letter sent to Queers Against Antisemitism, Brighton & Hove Pride wrote: “We totally condemn antisemitism and stand in solidarity against hate. We will always work with a passion to make Pride a safe inclusive place for all.”

Brighton and Hove Pride has invited Queers Against Antisemitism to meet them for further discussions after Pride weekend.

Brighton and Hove Pride told the JC that they were in contact with the Sussex Jewish Representative Council “for advice on how best to reassure local Jewish LGBTQI+ people they are welcome at Pride. We will continue these constructive conversations after this year’s event.”

Jewish and Proud supporters at this weekend's Brighton & Hove Pride, whose group was excluded from participating in the official parade

A spokesperson for the Sussex Jewish Representative Council told the JC: that the council “had has been positively engaging with Brighton Pride since last weekend. We are confident that there was no antisemitic intent on their behalf in their management of this year’s Pride.

"Rather, a desire to respond respectfully to the last-minute demands of a number of groups and parties with opposing viewpoints around a complex and nuanced situation.

“They have been open and transparent and acknowledged that they have more to learn about Israel, Zionism and their relationship to the local Jewish community. We look forward to working with Brighton Pride to identify and ensure local Jewish LGBTQI+ inclusion in next year’s Pride.”

Brighton’s Pride parade will be taking place almost 300 days since the October 7 terror attack, during which some 1,200 people were murdered, raped and kidnapped by Hamas, including more than 350 people at a dance festival. Around 250 people were also taken hostage into Gaza.