North Carolina Pride festival scheduled on Jewish holiday could exclude LGBTI Jews

North Carolina Pride has been getting some backlash for scheduling this year’s festival on 30 September – the date that coincides with Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is one of the holiest days on the Jewish calendar.

Carolina Jews for Justice, a nonpartisan nonprofit, released a statement on Facebook condemning this decision.

‘We are pleased that in recent years, many Jewish groups have increased participation in PRIDE, including the Federation and local synagogues. The chosen date will – or would – essentially prevent the participation of Jewish organizations in the march this year,’ they wrote.

‘Needless to say, this is a very significant and hurtful oversight on the part of the organizers which we hope will be corrected as soon as possible.’

‘Unfortunately, we are not the first community to feel sidelined or disregarded by the Pride organization in NC. Black Lives Matter, trans rights and disability rights organizations, for example, have had to push for Pride to be a place where their interests and urgent concerns are welcomed – and those fights are still ongoing.’

‘No group of people, Jewish or otherwise, should have to choose between our LGBTQ identities and the other identities that are important to us and shape our lives.’

On the NC Pride website, a note has been added to state the Pride organizers are working on a ‘solution’ to this, but no formal plans have been made yet.

‘We’re trying to put together a complete solving of things,’ said John Short, a NC Pride representative.

In an interview with The Herald Sun, Short claimed the 30 September date was chosen to align with Duke University’s schedule. He said that for as long as he remembers, NC Pride always fell on the last Saturday of September and there has never been an issue before…

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