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Jerusalem holds gay parade this week
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iPride panel in Jerusalem Open House. Photo by: Ed Walsh
Jerusalem is scheduled to hold its controversial gay pride march this Thursday, June 25.
The parade was one of the main topics at a panel discussion earlier this month at Jerusalem Open House, the Holy City's LGBT center. The panel was assembled by a group called iPride, which was organized by 20 Tel Aviv University students in concert with with StandWithUs, a US-based Israel advocacy nonprofit.
The panelists explained that the parade was a political parade not a party-type of parade that Tel Aviv and other cities celebrate. They are encouraging attendees to be respectful and dress modestly. They say the parade will encourage tolerance and respect for all people.
“It’s not a sexy tourism brochure,” said Jerusalem Open House’s director Yonathan Gher of the parade. “It is a good e-mail to human rights groups.”
One of the panelists, Atira Beak, spoke to attendees from her perspective as a Jewish Orthodox woman. She is also a member of Bat-kol, a religious Jewish lesbian organization. Beak said she would not attend a parade if it were a statement of “free love” but she said she would attend because the intent of the parade was political.
In 2005, three parade participants were stabbed by a Jewish Orthodox man. Organizers don’t expect any problems this year. Gher explained that those who were opposed to the parade realized that their protests only draw more attention to the parade. But a right wing group recently announced plans for a small protest outside the Jerusalem Open House on the day of the parade, according to the Jerusalem Post. The group is also planning counter protests in 15 Arab towns across Israel.
Despite opposition in the Holy City, gays in Israel enjoy significantly more rights than they do in the United States. Unlike the US, same-sex marriages are recognized in Israel if they are performed in another country. Israel does not have civil marriages. Only marriages performed in a synagogue, mosque, or church are recognized. But Israel’s common law marriage also applies to gay couples, granting them virtually all the rights of married couples. Gays also serve openly in the military and are allowed to adopt children. Gay characters and celebrities are commonplace on Israeli TV. Israel has an openly gay Knesset member, its third since Marsha Freedman came out as a lesbian in the mid-70s.
For more on iPride and about the gay scene in Tel Aviv, click here for my article in the Bay Area Reporter.
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