BOSTON — Emerson College President Lee Pelton on Wednesday condemned the Straight Pride Parade set to take place here Saturday as a "perversion" led by "angry and misguided people" in a sharply worded email to students and faculty.

The private school's downtown campus borders much of the route where conservative organizers, who form the group Super Happy Fun America, plan to hold the much-debated parade, which begins at noon at Copley Square and ends at City Hall.

Parade organizers have embraced the motto, "It's great to be straight." On Facebook they're calling on supporters to join the "fight against heterophobia in our modern society" and to "add an S to LGBTQ for Straight!"

Pelton, in a letter addressed to the Emerson community, slammed the parade as "fear and ignorance, humanity’s most potent cocktail, masquerading as freedom of speech."

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"Do not be lulled into believing this parade is motivated by any noble obligation to protect freedom of speech or assembly," he said. "This is its mask only and behind that mask are a group of angry and misguided people whose aim is to turn a cherished American value 'e pluribus unum,' 'out of the many, one' on its head.

"The Straight Pride Parade is a perversion. It is a desecration of beauty, truth and generosity and that is why we must call it out, call it what is, with a loud, clear, unambiguous and unified voice. Nothing less will do."

Parade organizers have said the event is a response to the "identity politics" of the left. The parade plays off parades traditionally held during "Pride Month" celebrating gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer history.

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In response to Pelton's letter, Samson Racioppi, an organizer with Super Happy Fun America, emailed a statement to USA TODAY calling for the Emerson president to retract the statement and issue an apology.

"It is clear that freedom of speech and the robust exchange of ideas in society is not welcome at Emerson college, based off their extremely intolerant and heterophobic statement issued to their student body," Racioppi said. "Our movement is one of unity and love, not one of ignorance as alleged by the Emerson president.

"We welcome all races, genders, and sexual orientations, to our parade and ceremony at City Hall, and wish for the Emerson community — and all of Boston — to stand with us in Solidarity on August 31st."

Racioppi said Pelton's message shows the college's "biased and politically slanted agenda" and that those who identify as heterosexual "have no reason or cause to celebrate who you are — at least according to Emerson College."

Super Happy Fun America's president is John Hugo, a former Republican candidate for Massachusetts' 5th Congressional District, who lost badly in 2018 to U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass. The organization's vice president is Mark Sahady, a member of the right-wing group Resist Marxism, who has organized several right-wing demonstrations in the past.

Boston and the surrounding area, where the parade's organizers reside, is known for its liberal, pro-LGBT politics. Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in 2004.

The parade's grand marshal is conservative commentator Milo Yiannopoulos. Supporters held signs publicizing the event after a rally for President Donald Trump in Manchester, New Hampshire, earlier this month.

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The city of Boston approved an application for the parade in June with Mayor Marty Walsh, a Democrat, arguing the city can't stop the parade from taking place just because people might disagree with the organizers' cause.

Walsh, who does not plan to attend the parade, said permits to host a public event are granted based on "operational feasibility, not based on values or endorsements of beliefs." The Boston Police Department and licensing board each signed off on the necessary permits.

Pelton has served as president of Emerson College, which specializes in the arts, liberal arts and communication, since 2011. He told faculty and students in the letter that he would be providing them a safety plan for the parade. He likened the parade organizers' efforts to "so-called white nationalists" who have complained there isn't a “White History Month” to counterbalance February’s “Black History Month."

Pelton said the group's ideological motivation is "ignorance, fear and its hideous offspring, hate." He compared the parade's message to the mantra of "protect our borders," which he called a "proxy for 'preserve our national identity' and in this case, preserve 'straight' culture, whatever that might mean."

It's all just "a spectacle" designed for attention, he added, "in this case an odious parade."

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison