Gay pride turns 10 in Tel Aviv

June 10, 2011 - 7:23 AM by David

With 100,000 revelers expected to join the 10th annual Gay Pride March on Friday in Tel Aviv, the event is clearly a well established tradition on the Israeli landscape.

Leading politicians like Tzipi Livni, Isaac Herzog, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and head of the Knesset’s gay and lesbian caucus, MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz ), will all address the gathering which begins at Meir Park in the morning, before it heads to Gordon Beach for an all day and all night party.

Despite the unity, the march also reflects the diversity and underlying tension within the gay community in Israel. Ha’aretz reported that that a separate “radical” parade is being held for the first time this year, representing other views in the gay and lesbian community.

“Part of our battle is not just saying how great it is to be gay, but also talking about the discrimination that exists, about things that need to be corrected. The radical parade has its own slogan. We don’t just want to fight homophobia in a superficial way and ignore all the other ills of society. The radical fight means that things need to be fundamentally changed; we don’t need cosmetic change,” said one of the radical parade’s organizers, Elisha Alexander.

At the same time, in the main parade, gay religious groups will be represented for the first time. The Jerusalem Post reported that the lesbian Bat Kol group, ‘Proud Minyan,’ religious groups from within the Israeli Gay Youth Organization, and Havruta will all be in the march.

“We are involved, influential and, first and foremost, serve as a bridge between two extremes that in the not-distant past seemed distant and irreconcilable: the religious and gay communities,” spokesman for the groups Daniel Jonas added.

The report added however, that not all religious-homosexual groups will be marching. The Kamoha group, which broke off from Havruta late last year after feeling that the veteran religious gay group in Israel was compromising on the religious adherence to which it was purportedly committed, will not take part in the Tel Aviv event.

“One of the main reasons we are marching is that we meet growing numbers of people who, upon seeing kippas in the context of gay pride, realized that they are not alone, and were strengthened,” said Jonas. “If, as a religious youth I had felt alone, without anyone to turn to, today young religious people have many more options.”

A story on the website So So Gay cited Tel Aviv as being a leading gay tourist destination and touted Israel’s gay rights policy, writing that “Israel has the most developed LGBT rights in the Middle East, with recognized common law marriage rights and gay people now able to adopt their partner’s children.”

Although homosexuality is also legal in Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, Israel is the only country in the region to have laws that protect homosexuals against discrimination, including employment discrimination and in the provision of goods and services.

So whether gay or straight, Israelis can march today with pride.

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