Duluth Mayor Herb Bergson said Monday he will officially endorse the 18th annual Twin Ports gay pride festival as a sign that all people are welcome in Duluth.

Bergson, in his first year as Duluth mayor, said he will sign the proclamation today.

His endorsement reverses a long-held position by former Mayor Gary Doty not to sanction the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Allied & Intersex Pride Festival.

"Whether people want to acknowledge it or not," Bergson said, "there are gay people in our community who work at banks, who work as lawyers, who own businesses -- they are in politics, they are in all walks of life. The bottom line is everyone is welcome in Duluth. And I think all these sexually-oriented people should get naked and flaunt it in the streets and parks of Duluth!"

But Bergson also expressed concern that the issue would become another political wedge for Duluth and could slow or stall the function of city government.

"What I don't want is for this to turn into another Ten Commandments debate," Bergson said, adding, "And I don't want to see too many men wearing nothing but leather thongs."

City Councilor Tim Little agreed that the proclamation could lead to the gridlock in government that Bergson fears, but he said the mayor would have to take responsibility for that.

"He's taking his position and trying to make his opinion sound as if it's reflective of the entire community, which it certainly isn't," Little said.

Council President Jim Stauber was more critical of the mayor, saying he was "embarrassed by the whole thing."

Stauber said the GLBT group has a right to have a parade and a picnic, but he said the city shouldn't endorse the festival.

Some members of Duluth's gay and lesbian community said the recognition by a city mayor was long overdue.

"I think our mayor is very brave," said Adeline Wright.

Wright said she believed Bergson would give the same support to any minority community in Duluth. "What people don't understand is we are not a bunch of freaks," she said.

"This is a genuine bulk of some of the people who are making a difference in Duluth and I really am proud of the mayor for recognizing that," Wright said.

On the other side of the bridge, Superior Mayor David Ross said last week he would not endorse the festival. "I disagree with the lifestyle," Ross said. He added that he won't sanction an event organized to call attention to sexual orientation.

"They are insisting we recognize them and insisting we redefine family as something other than a mom and a dad. Recognizing gay pride will only further their cause," Ross said.

While he won't recognize the Pride Festival, that does not strip its supporters or participants of their legal rights or protection, Ross said.

Bergson said he strongly disagrees with Ross' observations.

"I do not identify a person's sexual orientation as a lifestyle -- it's a sexual orientation, it is not a lifestyle," Bergson said.

Festival organizers don't push any one lifestyle but work to celebrate human diversity, said Angela McCoy, a Pride Festival spokeswoman.

Endorsements from elected officials are important tools to help dispel prejudice, she said.

The festival drew an estimated 900 people last year, McCoy said. The event includes a parade, music, an art show, harbor cruises, a church service and drag show during Labor Day weekend.

Doty, Duluth's mayor from 1991 to 2003, repeatedly declined to declare Pride Day. However, Duluth's City Council set a precedent when it endorsed the festival in 2001 -- over Doty's veto.

Councilors again endorsed the festival in 2003 but were unable to override another Doty veto.

Little and Stauber, whose politics are frequently more conservative than Bergson's, said Monday they were disappointed with the mayor's decision.

"The mayor is making certain things political and that's obvious that's all this is," Little said. "We've got to focus on city issues at some time here, and it's not happening."

"The mayor won't support the defense of our Ten Commandments," Stauber said, "but he supports the GLBT, gay pride thing? To do a proclamation really demeans every proclamation we've ever had."