Why Israel Has The Must-Attend Gay Pride Parade

With LGBTQ film festivals, pageants, youth and adult programs, and a high level of support from the Israeli public, Israel is not shy about its Pride Parade. Here are the reasons why Israel should be especially “proud.”
There have been eleven international LGBT film festivals in Israel to date. TLVFest is Tel Aviv’s International LGBT film festival. It is the only one in the Middle East and coincides with this week’s Pride week in Tel Aviv. According to TLVFest, this year’s program includes films that aspire to “enrich and empower tolerance and pluralism in Israeli society. In addition to displaying worldwide cinema, the festival encourages Israeli original work, awarding Best Film in the competitive Israeli program and provides exposure and a public stage for local filmmakers”. With that in mind, this year’s TLV Fest should be full of lights, cameras, and of course, LGBTQ-friendly action.

2. Israel recently doubled the budget for LGBT youth programs- and these programs are nothing short of amazing. The Social Affairs Ministry is also opening emergency and long-term facilities to serve LGBT adults, including living quarters, provided meals, 24/7 guidance from professionals, and a hostel for transgender young adults at risk. The ministry, quoted in a recent Haaretz article, is “enabling residents to earn a high-school matriculation certificate at the ministry’s expense, and also offering them assistance in pursuing higher education, getting a job, and finding places to live”. Thanks to programs like these, LGBTQ youth feel more support and with that may come more “out” Israelis as well as a more accepting community.

3. 76% of Israelis support gay marriage or civil unions, up 12% since last year. The Times of Israel published a recent article poll, which was conducted by the Israeli civil equality advocacy group, Hiddush. The poll shows a steadily growing trend towards acceptance, especially in the secular Jewish public (90% acceptance) and in traditional Jews (77% acceptance). In Israel’s neighboring Palestinian territories, where many people hold deeply religious values, 93% of the population believes that society should not accept homosexuality, according to Pew Global. Thus, many gay Palestinians find a home and refuge in neighboring Israel.

4. Lea DeLaria is currently gracing Israel with her presence for the Tel Aviv Pride Week. The Orange is the New Black star is a queer comedian, actress, and musician. Immediately upon landing, she posted a photo of herself to her Facebook page in front of a “Welcome to Israel” sign. According to a JPost article, DeLaria visited the Western Wall, where she took a picture with a fan, dressed in his IDF uniform. Later, she exclaimed “there are no ugly women in Israel”.

5. Gay birthright trips – Birthright is a popular program that brings young adults to Israel to learn about Israeli society and Jewish history in hopes that the participants find their identity within the Jewish narrative. For LGBTQ Jews, this is doubly applicable. Israel Experience began offering a LGBTQ trip to Israel in 2008 that brings a group of 40 people who identify within the LGBTQ community. The group travels with other LGBTQ Israeli peers, visits the normal Birthright attractions, plus meeting with Israel’s LGBTQ communities, centers, clubs, artists, and filmmakers.

6. Israel’s gay friendly laws began to be instituted less than 15 years after the country’s founding. Sex changes are paid for using the country’s public health insurance system, with approval from the Committee for Sex Reassignment organized by the Health Ministry. Discrimination based on sexual orientation was outlawed in 1992. And at the same time the U.S. enacted the notorious “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, the IDF celebrated its gay and lesbian soldiers serving openly. Still, there is much progress that Israel hopes to make in the future to provide even more legal protection for the LGBTQ community.

7. We have the largest pride parade in Asia! This year’s parade hosted over 200,000 people. Those who participate in the parade include many different sectors of Israeli society: young, old, LGBTQ, allies, left wing, right wing, and people who simply love a good party. Present at the event was an openly gay Israeli Parliament member as well as male and female reservists from the Israeli army’s artillery unit, marching in support of LGBTQ battalion colleagues.

8. This year’s Miss Trans Israel was the first transgender pageant in Israel’s history. A beautiful and smart Catholic Arab-Israeli woman, Ta’alin Abu Hanna, swept away the competition. Originally from Nazareth, Ta’alin exclaimed, “I’m proud to be an Israeli Arab. If I had been in Palestine or in any other Arab country, I might have been in prison or murdered”. That truth was a sad reality for one of the contestants from the Arab town of Tamra, where her male relatives tried to murder her after learning of her plans to transition from man to woman. But in Israel, Abu Hanna and her pageant peers, are role models and stars.

When it comes to pride, Israel’s got a lot to go around. So if you are not going to catch this week’s Pride Week in Tel Aviv, consider enjoying next year’s celebrations. It’s guaranteed to be a sunny, rainbow filled week of festivities.

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