Here's another test for your short-term memory, kiddies. Have you forgotten about this morning's post on the broo-ha-ha over Israeli Gay Pride?

If you answered "no", gold star to you. If you answered "yes", you've got some serious problems and we suggest you a. consult a doctor and b. click here to catch up.

Anyway, with all the threats of violence and Biblical vengence, Jerusalem police may revoke the parade's permit. The Jerusalem Post reports:

Amidst mounting public opposition and threats of violence, Jerusalem police said Monday that they will reevaluate a permit given to hold a gay parade in the city next month...

Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said Monday that the High Court affirmed that police have the prerogative to cancel the event.

Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco met late Sunday night with a senior Rabbi from the anti-Zionist Eda Haredit who warned of violent protests if the parade went ahead, officials said.

If the police do cancel the event, that will make the second queer event cancelled in Israel this year: World Pride had to end its planned celebration after the war with Lebanon broke out.

While it's totally shitty that gays in Israel can't get a break, at least some good's coming out of this whole homophobic mess:

The burgeoning opposition to the local city parade has again united an unusual cross-party and inter-faith coalition of Conservative Orthodox Rabbis, Muslims, and Christians who call the event a deliberate affront and provocation to millions of believers around the world.

See? Bigotry brings people together. Just think, the gays could be the key to ending war in the Middle East!

We've always wanted to know what it would be like to be a sacrificial lamb.

• In an interesting series of events, a West Point senior writes a thesis paper on how the military's anti-gay policies actually hurt the the armed forces they're meant to proect — and the U.S. Military gives him an award. [AP]

• In Connecticut, incumbent Joe Lieberman loses the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to newcomer Ned Lamont — though Lieberman promises to run for his seat anyhow, as an indepdendent. [NYT]

• In Philadelphia, a HIV awareness campaign ended abruptly when its message got mixed with one of stereotyping black violence. The ads urging young men to get tested for HIV – and feature "young African American men ... in the crosshairs of a gun with the tagline 'Have YOU been hit?'" – were pulled when the Black Gay Men's Leadership Council voiced concerns over the ads violent message. [Philadelphia Inquirer]

• In Iran, an underground gay magazine says "thank you" for the worldwide support of other GLBT organizations bringing attention to their push for equality. [Pink News]

• The rainbow flag waving outside a Kansas B&B comes back into the spotlight, with a local chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition planning to gather at the hotel to give the local gay community a voice. [Hutchinson News]

• In Israel, Jerusalem police have banned a demonstration in the city's centre, claiming World Pride organizers failed to limit the number of participants, supposedly for safety concerns. Demonstrators, however, are reportedly still set on holding the event. [Jerusalem Post]

• In Washington, state Medicaid officials are pushing to stop publicly funded sex-change operations. There are still two operations in the queue, and those will go ahead, and the state will remain paying for "hormone treatment and psychotherapy for low-income people diagnosed with gender-identity disorders." [Advocate]

Good afternoon, and how are you? We're disgusted, thanks. Why the wretched feelings? Because we've got to hear from religious Jewish zealots – yes, you heard that right, and we're Jewish – that the recent rash of attacks on Israel are the result of gays wishing to celebrate their identity. Prominent rabbis and religious figureheads in Israel publicly condemning efforts to hold WorldPride 2006 in Jerusalem has been going on for weeks and months. But attributing Hezbollah's violence to an absence of God because gays want to celebrate their culture? Did we learn nothing from some religious zealots blaming the gays for 9/11?

"Why does this war break out this week, all of sudden with little warning? Because this is the exact week the Jewish people are trying to decide whether the gay pride parade should take place in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv," Pinchas Winston, a noted author, rabbi and lecturer based in Jerusalem told WND. [...]

Yet many religious leaders believe the Israeli government's decision to allow a world homosexual parade in Jerusalem is having real-life consequences.

"This [parade] is an attack against God himself," Winston said. "God has told the Jewish people, 'If you are not going to fight for my honor, you will be forced to fight for your own honor.'"

Winston points to the clashes that broke out after Hezbollah staged a raid last week in which two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped and eight more soldiers were killed. Israel has been retaliating inside Lebanon while the Lebanese terror group has fired hundreds of deadly Katyusha rockets at northern Israeli population centers, killing 18 civilians and wounding hundreds, some seriously.

On a second battlefront, Israel also recently sent ground troops into Gaza following the kidnapping by Hamas of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Hamas and other Gaza-based Palestinian Arab terror groups have launched hundreds of rockets into Jewish communities near Gaza, including Ashkelon, home to Israel's major power stations and strategic oil and gas pipelines.

Lazer Brody, an author and dean of the Breslov Rabbinical College in Ashdod, Israel, concurred with Winston.

"When God’s presence is in the camp, nothing can happen to the Jewish people," Brody stated. "But If the Jewish people bring impurity into the camp of Israel, this chases away God's presence."

Violence in Israel caused by 'gay' event? [WorldNetDaily]

We're not sure what organizers were expecting when they decided to hold World Pride in the middle of the Holy Land, but there has been a rare moment of unity between the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths in Israel as they cry "foul" together over the event. Despite the fact that only one quarter of the city of Jerusalem wants World Pride held in their city and that all these conservative religious leaders are having aneurysms over it, plans are going forward for the celebration, which should draw hundreds of thousands of queers from all over the world to the embattled region for a few days of gay revelry.

In general we think that spreading gayness to the Middle East will have a positive effect on the general global understanding. For example, if 500,000 gays come and party in Jerusalem for a few days and the city doesn't get swallowed into the sea or smote by the Hand of God, maybe the hysteria will lessen ever so slightly. Or are we being foolish optimists? Our main concern is that things don't turn violent, and we hope the Jerusalem police are prepared for the possibility will protect the safety of their visitors.

Christian leaders slam gay parade [Jerusalem Post]