CRITICS CALL ROME GAY EVENT "TIP OF ICEBERG"

ROME (CWNews.com) - Opponents of the World Gay Pride event scheduled for Rome in July said the festival was just the "tip of the iceberg" in the attempt by homosexual activists to impose their alternative lifestyles as a natural part of Italian society.

Opposition to the event gathered steam in May as the Vatican, Catholic intellectuals, and right- and left-wing politicians all lined up against the event as ill-timed, falling as it does during the Jubilee Year with a series of high-profile events scheduled for July 1-8 during the gay pride festival. Rome Mayor Francesco Rutelli, who had first pledged support and backing for the event, recently backed down from that position and removed the city's endorsement for the project.

"We have to draw public opinion to ... their objective of changing to a type of society that is opposed to human and Christian values that are the foundation of our society and are in our constitution," Gustavo Selva of the National Alliance party said.

"The problem is that the Gay Pride demonstration is just the tip of the iceberg. It's just the most emblematic case of the clash between two views of the world, of life, and of man," said Riccardo Pedrizzi, a National Alliance senator.

According to a recent Datamedia poll of Italians, more than 60 percent said World Gay Pride should not be held in Rome and 63 percent said they were unhappy with the timing of the event. Only 19 percent said they were in favor of the event and its timing.

Carlo Giovanardi of the opposition centrist CCD party said he simply did not understand why homosexuals were not prepared to compromise by changing the timing or venue of a rally he said "profoundly offends the feelings of millions of people." He added, "It's not lost on us that Rome clearly has a special status ... but why get up on a stage that has already been booked by others in the Holy Year."

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