Monday, June 25, 2007

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL "REFORMED."

Gay Rabbi Complains Bloomberg Skipped Church (NYSun)
The two grand marshals of the city's annual gay pride parade are criticizing Mayor Bloomberg for joining the march below St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Mr. Bloomberg, who has said he favors same-sex marriage, joined yesterday's parade down Fifth Avenue at 48th Street, two blocks south of the cathedral.

Mr. Bloomberg has started walking in the parade below the cathedral every year, continuing the precedent established by Mayors Koch and Giuliani before him. Yesterday, he marched alongside the speaker of the City Council, Christine Quinn, the first openly gay leader of the council. Ms. Quinn started the parade at the beginning of the route on 52nd Street.

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and the Reverend Troy Perry, the parade's two grand marshals, criticized Mr. Bloomberg for not walking past the cathedral, which has during past parades been the site of protests of the Catholic church's position on homosexuality and of counterprotests directed at the parade.

"Shame on you, Mr. Bloomberg," Ms. Kleinbaum said at a news conference when asked about the mayor's decision to start the march below the church. "We expect you to be at the head of this march."

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