Israel is the gayt untry on earth | Yoni Leviatan | The Blogs

Contents:

• GAY TEL AVIV FOR BEGNERS
• ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH
• A CRIME AGAST GAY ISRAELIS IS A SYMBOL, BUT OF WHAT?
• THE GAY-FRIENDLIT CI ISRAEL
• STEERG A PATH TO ACCEPTANCE FOR GAY ISRAELIS
• GAY ISRAEL TRAVEL GUI
• GAY ISRAELIS E FORWARD TO SCRIBE PREDATORY, HARMFUL NVERSN THERAPY
• TEL AVIV, THE FAL GAY ONTIER

GAY TEL AVIV FOR BEGNERS

He wrote rponse to lls at the time to ncel the sodomy law (which was ultimately ncelled only 1988, thanks to Shulam Aloni) I, as an Orthodox Rabbi, Support Legalizg Same-sex Marriage We Sharpened the Assailant's Knife In Their Own Words Livneh was neher ultra-Orthodox nor Orthodox, but rather a Jewish natnalist, yet his ma argument was that homosexualy is foreign to Judaism, nstut a foreign fluence by generate Wtern culture and should be the op-ed he claimed that for hundreds of years Jews the Diaspora succeed prervg their muni om those “sexual perversns, ” or as he phrased : “It is totally absurd to have suffered for many generatns the Diaspora, while strictly prervg, nurturg and refg the heterosexual prciple, only to return to the Land of Israel and renew the ‘gentil’ abomatn’ here. In the 1970s he was a pneer of the mpaign to ncel the prohibn on homosexualy Germany (Paragraph 175) the prohibn on homosexualy often relied on the prohibn Levic 18, Schoeps wanted to make clear the ntext which this prohibn was promulgated. He might have been nsired a kd of msiah of the homoerotic gospel among the Jewish people had his unual kabbalistic theory not been silenced and phed to the his book “The Erotics of Kabbala” published 1923, Langer argued that “brotherly love, ” i.

The LGBT liberatn movement appeared only the 1970s, as an Amerin-style, secular, liberal is not necsary to accept the theori propound by Laner, Schoeps and others like them, but their attempts to create a Jewish homosexualy are particularly relevant now.

For beach lovers, there are and of powry sand beach suated along the Mederranean Sea, yet one stands out as the unofficial gay beach of the cy: Hilton Beach (the beach ont of Tel Aviv’s Hilton Hotel) featur a seasi fé wh a full-service menu and endls hours of people-watchg. If they are, they may simply jo you at your, whether you e to Tel Aviv for the gay nightlife, to lie on a gay beach, to experience gay pri, or jt to enjoy the pany of fellow gays, there is perhaps no better gay statn the Middle East and very few others the world.

ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH

Insir Tips – Gay Tel Aviv for BegnersBelow we offer some tips om the muny and equent visors to help you make the most of your time the Wood: “Tel Aviv is really an amazg place and a one of a kd LGBTQ muny bee you n walk around everywhere, be yourself 100% whout judgment, and feel accepted by everyone around you. In his recent blog post, he begs for asylum Canada as they prepare to port him back to the Paltian terrori, where is more than certa that he will suffer the same fate of so many other outed gays that me before him, and had the unlucky fortune to be born to one of the most sadistic societi the world when to their treatment of homosexuals.

(It also bears mentng that the picture is ditive of a culture wh the Israeli Defense Forc that the straight soldier feels fortable enough his masculy, and wh his fellow soldier’s homosexualy, to be seen such a public image holdg hands wh him. Although Tel Aviv may be where all the actn is (as is the se wh most pursus Israel), ask any gay who liv here, or any gay who’s been here, and they will tell you that Israelis are the most open and welg society the world toward homosexuals. Instead, chang the valu and polics of Israeli society over the past twenty years or so created the space which a gay and lbian muny uld first gay anizatn was tablished 1975, thanks largely to the work of immigrants om the Uned Stat and other English-speakg untri fluenced by the velopment of gay liberatn and the unterculture of the 1960s.

The very name of this first anizatn, the Society for the Protectn of Personal Rights (then, as today, known as the Agudah, Hebrew), reflected the difficulty of anizg sexual mori at a time when the existence of a sodomy law was thought by many to make homosexualy self illegal.

A CRIME AGAST GAY ISRAELIS IS A SYMBOL, BUT OF WHAT?

The certati of Znism gave way to a multu of polil and cultural inti: ultra-orthodox Judaism, growg assertn of a Paltian inty among Israel’s Arab cizens, natnalism, and yearngs for a more Wtern, liberal society peted for the allegiance of, gay inty and polics still did not go public.

And 1994, the Israeli Supreme Court orred El Al Israel Airl to grant a ee plane ticket to the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airle had long done for heterosexual partners of then, there has been steady progrs, pecially the urts. Chief among them was the fact that gay activists pursued a very mastream strategy, seekg to nvce the wir public that gay Israelis were good patrtic cizens who jt happened to be attracted to the same strategy, pursued until recently, rerced the perceptn that gay rights was a non-partisan issue, unnnected to the major fissure Israeli polics, the Arab-Israeli nflict and how to rolve . Prevly, the Israeli gay movement had shunned transgenred people, fearg what their cln would do to s public image, but wh Dana receivg ngratulatory telegrams om the Prime Mister and beg ma an honorary ambassador by the Knset, was now “safe” for the movement to expand s November of that year, Michal En won a seat the Tel Aviv Cy Council, beg Israel’s first openly lbian elected official.

The Israeli LGBT movement has not embraced femism ( fact, sexism and tensns between gay men and lbians are both que prevalent), and until recently, the place of gay Arabs the muny was neglected, reflectg the wir society’s difference to Israel’s Arab mory (some 20 percent of Israel’s populatn). Agast the backdrop of clash between Israel and the Paltian Authory, the 2001 Tel Aviv’s Pri Para, typilly a celebratory, hedonistic affair, got a dose of polics when a ntgent lled “Gays Black” marched wh a banner proclaimg, “There’s No Pri In Occupatn.

THE GAY-FRIENDLIT CI ISRAEL

” A group lled “Kvisa Sh’hora” (Dirty Lndry) also spng up, lkg the opprsn of sexual mori to what se as the Israeli opprsn of the PriThe holdg of World Pri Jesalem Augt 2006 highlights the succs and challeng of Israel’s gay and lbian muny.

STEERG A PATH TO ACCEPTANCE FOR GAY ISRAELIS

But before the para had to be ncelled bee of regnal tensns, was shapg up as a stggle between Israel’s relig tablishment and the gay and lbian Jesalem municipaly and a verable alliance of relig lears uned only their opposn to homosexualy were termed to thwart the holdg of the para. Even many secular Israelis normally supportive of the Israeli GLBT muny viewed holdg an ternatnal gay pri para Jesalem as an unnecsary provotn, showg jt how succsful Israel’s relig tablishment has been shapg a gree of obedience to s sensivi. In 2017, anizers of the Chigo Dyke March kicked women out for rryg the Pri flag wh a Star of David, cg s remblance to the Israeli month, a soon-to-open gay bar Mneapolis beme embroiled the dispute when a journalist unearthed tweets by the bar's owner llg for the ath of all Israelis.

She asks why pro-Paltian queer people don’t specifilly nmn queer opprsn Palte, notg a report of Hamas executg a gay man Gaza by throwg him off a, the Washgton march anizer, said that discsn of nmng the reported Paltian btaly agast queer people did not e up planng meetgs for the march, which nsired self “fiercely” pro-Paltian.

“Paltians al wh multiple systems of opprsn — om the occupatn to the patriarchy and homophobia, ” she, unlike many progrsive activists, she also cled to dismiss Pri events Israel, such as last week’s para Tel Aviv wh over 250, 000 participants, as "pkwashg, " or an attempt to distract om the occupatn of Paltians.

GAY ISRAEL TRAVEL GUI

Elements of the g aln led by the prime mister-elect Benjam Netanyahu have not hidn the fact that they are hostile to Paltians and LGBTQ+ Maoz, the lear of the extremist relig natnalist party Noam that helped Netanyahu’s bloc w, has said queer people are a “threat to the fay”, and that the greatt achievement women n make is to marry and raise is expected to head a new “natnal Jewish inty” thory wh powers over some school activi, cludg mory rights and genr many leftwg voters, the rise of a homophobic and ultra-relig ernment was not a surprise after four years of polil chaos and succsive electns triggered by Netanyahu’s rptn trial. Dpe ial aln negotiatn difficulti, is expected the new ernment will last a whole Rudner voted for the leftwg party Meretz, which failed to pass the electoral thrhold last month’s electn and is out of the Knset altogether, dilutg an already small leftwg 24-year-old tour gui, who intifi as gay, emigrated to Israel 2017 om the US and liv Jesalem. Marriage and ary service law reforms are veloped by whe ele lawyer-led anizatns fund by wealthy philanthropists and publicized by rporate media that is pro-war and that is vted sellg romance and weddgs and all this sh…tellg gays that they n be soldiers and spo.

In a piece entled “Israel and Pkwashg, ” CUNY profsor Sarah Schulman not only acced Israel of beg herently homophobic, but also claimed that homosexualy is legal unr the Paltian Authory and that LGBT Paltians are not persecuted as equently as Israeli propaganda would have believe. Homonatnalism is fundamentally a ep crique of lbian and gay liberal rights disurs and how those rights disurs produce narrativ of progrs and morny that ntue to acrd some populatns accs to cizenship—cultural and legal—at the expense of the limatn and expulsn of other populatns.

Members of Israel’s tech sector, women’s anizatns and army rervists who, together wh the gay muny, have played a proment role the anti-judicial overhl protts, attend the Jesalem para Netanyahu has pledged to protect gay rights and appoted Amir Ohana, a member of his nservative Likud party, as the first openly gay speaker of Israel’s Ohana was publicly weled at a state ceremony this year, markg the 75th anniversary of Israel’s tablishment, together wh his life partner, unrlg the high profile of the gay muny Israel even as hostile rhetoric om officials grows. “Maybe we won’t see a law sayg gay men have to wear a pk shirt Israel, ” said Jonathan Valfer, chairman of the Jesalem Open Hoe for Pri and Tolerance and a para anizer, of the potential dangers posed by the ernment’s judicial the end, he said an terview, gay rights — such as same-sex surrogacy rights — have mostly been nferred by the Supreme Court rather than the lawmakers.

GAY ISRAELIS E FORWARD TO SCRIBE PREDATORY, HARMFUL NVERSN THERAPY

”ImageAmir Ohana, a member of the nservative Likud party, is the first openly gay speaker of Israel’s Elkayam for The New York TimReflectg the more nservative character of the holy cy, the annual para Jesalem is much smaller and quieter than the rnival-like one Tel Aviv, which tak place a week later and attracts up to 250, 000 Israeli L.

People are ncerned about the recent allotn of nearly $80 ln ernment fundg over the next two years for a new thory to promote Jewish natnal inty, head by Avi Maoz, a puty mister the prime mister’s office who promot polici that crics scribe as homophobic, racist and misogynist. Maoz, lear of the far-right Noam party, says he will create a mechanism to help parents track the tnal ntent their children’s schools — a move, crics say, that uld be ed to crack down on programs that promote the rights of mori and told a small, relig publitn shortly before the ernment was formed that he tend to work to ncel the annual gay pri para Jesalem, which he scribed as “an obscene abomatn. As Pri 2023 approach, here are jt a few reasons why Tel Aviv is the ultimate LGBTQ travel Aviv Gay Pri WeekOne of the biggt and most excg Pri Week celebratns around the globe, Tel Aviv is known to throw some of the bt parti, and hosts a breathtakg pri para throughout the cy, culmatg on the beach for an unfettable beach party to the sunset.

Tel Aviv is known for the supportive and llaborative gay muny that ntu to Rights IsraelWhile Israel may be a trailblazer terms of tolerance for the LGBTQ muny and is certaly the most acceptg and progrsive the Middle East, there are still improvements to be ma.

TEL AVIV, THE FAL GAY ONTIER

Discrimatn agast those who intify as gay is strictly forbidn and the ary even regniz same-sex upl the s of war widows or this, Tel Aviv is an ial travel statn boastg priste beach, unique archecture, world-class cuise and a plethora of art, culture, mic, and dance.

As social attus toward lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) people have unrgone a sea change globally, stanc taken by Jewish lears and movements have changed along wh, same-sex marriag are regnized by the Reform, Conservative, Renewal and Renstctnist movements, and each movement’s rabbil semary ordas LGBTQ stunts.

All the chang were preced by the Renstctnist movement, which began beme the first movement to accept gays and lbians as rabbil stunts 1984 and whose rabbis have long been ee to officiate at same-sex while the liberal Jewish muny has shifted markedly on this issue, homosexualy remas a vexg issue Orthodoxy, which ntu to hold fast to the Torah’s seemgly flexible rejectn of homosexual acts.

” Many thori nsir this prohibn to be one of Judaism’s rdal ss and believe mt not be transgrsed even at the threat of one’s Readg the Prohibn Agast Homosexualy ContextEven the most tradnally-md terpreters of the verse acknowledge that the Torah do not prohib homosexualy as such, but merely one specific sexual act — generally unrstood to be anal sex between two men. The biblil vers are also generally not unrstood as rejectg homosexuals as dividuals, but merely homosexual differ sharply along nomatnal The Reform movement was the first of the major nomatns to take a liberal posn toward homosexualy, adoptg the first of many rolutns on behalf of gays and lbians 1977.

Conservative: In 2006, the Conservative movement nclud a polarizg bate over homosexualy wh the endorsement of two ntradictory opns — one upholdg the movement’s prev rejectn of gay relatnships, and another retag the Torah prohibn on male anal sex but allowg for other forms of sexual timacy between members of the same sex. The Reform movement now nsirs same-sex marriage to qualify as kiddh — the rabbic term for betrothal, a holy unn between two 2012, the same three Conservative rabbis who thored the more liberal opn on homosexualy noted above published a seri of ruals and documents pertag to same-sex marriage ceremoni and divorce. Though the largt Orthodox rabbil group, the Rabbil Council of Ameri, had at one time mend JONAH’s work, publicly whdrew s endorsement 2012, cg evince that the therapy was effective and had potentially negative the Orthodox muny still support nversn therapy, however, part bee they believe is impossible that homosexual sir uld be both unchangeable and proscribed by the Torah.

Israel has regularly touted s achievements on gay rights as a sign of s progrsive Wtern worldview, a practice some crics have rid as an attempt at “pkwashg” — that is, to distract om s treatment of the more on LGBTQ Jewish life, vis MyJewishLearng’s Khet blog. Sign up for the daily Insi Washgton email for exclive US verage and analysis sent to your boxGet our ee Insi Washgton emailRepublins Congrs largely remaed silent and did not appld when Israeli Print Isaac Herzog mentned how Israel holds one of the largt gay pri paras Tel Aviv after givg him numero appls throughout his jot addrs to Congrs on Wednday.

Acrdg to this new survey by the Israeli webse Mako and the Panels Instute of several hundred secular Jews livg Israel, 67 percent of participants intified as "exclively heterosexual, " while only 3 percent said they were "exclively homosexual. As JW3, the Jewish muny centre north London, lnch GayW3, celebratg the liv of the LGBTQ muny throughout history to the prent day through film, theatre, mic and discsn, and upliftg Brish-Israeli documentary Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?, backed by the BFI, prepar for s cema release, now is a great time to look back at the bt of Jewish and Israeli LGBT cema.

A number of Brish films jt missed the list, cludg Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), which Jewish doctor Peter Fch enjoyed Brish cema’s first male-on-male kiss; award-wng short film Sidney Turtlebm (2008), starrg Derek Jabi as an elrly gay Jewish pickpocket and nman; and Lisa Gornick’s latt film, The Book of Gabrielle (2016), a funny and sharp study of a Jewish lbian whose sexualy is thrown to turmoil. His adaptatn of Mart Crowley’s play, about a group of gay men who gather for Harold’s party, rultg a cel eveng of sadistic gam and sabotage, me at the wrong time – as the gay liberatn movement tablished s voice the early 1970s, negative or prsg pictns of gay men the media were seen as archaic and obstctive to progrs. Torch Song Trilogy (1988)Harvey Fierste is bt known for his stage work, particularly for wrg the books for the stage mils La Cage x Foll and Kky Boots, jog Stephen Sondheim and Jerry Herman as Broadway legends who happened to be both gay and Jewish.

Rather than producg a para of cshed victims, the film foregrounds the sharp mentary of Gad Beck, a Jewish gay man who helped refuge pe; the wistful memori of love lost om Hez F., still too guard to reveal his full name; and the undiluted anger of Pierre Seel, who was tortured by Nazi officers. Yossi (2012)Eytan Fox is one of Israel’s foremost directors, and all of his films foc on gay characters, often g homosexualy to ment on a wir theme, such as self-realisatn Mossad thriller Walk on Water (2004) or the Israeli–Paltian nflict The Bubble (2006).

(2016)After a year on the ftival circu, where won the documentary award at the Berl Film Ftival and the dience award at the UK Internatnal Jewish Film Ftival, Barak and Tomer Heymann’s feature about the life of Saar Maoz, an HIV posive gay man livg London after beg rejected by his Israeli fay and driven away om his Kibbutz, is fally gettg a short cema release April 2017.

Conscripts are not asked about sexual orientatn, and people who are openly gay are not dmmed out of the service bee of as Profsor Even's experience suggts, the Israeli Army may be somethg ls than the mol of tolerance and openns supposed by some who ce Israel's example advotg an end to the ban on homosexuals the ary the Uned cince, at the same time that the Uned Stat has been enmhed the issue, Israel has recently been engagg a rare and ocsnally tense public bate on attus toward homosexualy s army.

Prsure to Hi HomosexualyAlthough homosexuals serve wh everyone else the ary Israel, many Israeli homosexuals say that realy they feel prsur to hi their orientatn, both active service and the rerve duty that most men perform for a month or two each year until the age of 51. Dpe the fact that gay Israelis are nscripted, for example, those soldiers who are found to be homosexuals, or who clare that fact openly, are required to unrgo psychologil ttg and secury checks, an ditn that the Army still regards them wh distst and ncern that their orientatn might reflect emotnal requirement of secury checks appears also to reflect ncern about blackmail for those who have kept their homosexualy to themselv.

"But may take more than le-book chang to purge anti-gay attus om the ary, given the gree to which reflects the larger impact of this matter was ma clear by a recent parliamentary hearg that Profsor Even addrsed: While was unr way, lawmakers om Orthodox Jewish parti refed even to enter the Parliament Mister Yzhak Rab, a former Army chief of staff, says he se no reason for anti-gay discrimatn, and he promis an quiry to see if Profsor Even should be returned to his former far, the profsor has not heard back. Amid an outcry over the tn mister’s ments backg so-lled nversn therapy, a growg number of gay Israelis who grew up relig muni are g forward to share their experienc of predatory therapists and bizarre behavral treatments as part of the ntroversial practice, which many say drove them to attempt suici. Gay Marriage⚭✖ Unregistered habatnCensorship✔ No censorshipChangg Genr✔ Legal, surgery not requiredNon-bary genr regnn✖ Not legally regnizedEmployment Discrimatn✖ Sexual orientatn onlyHog Discrimatn✔ Sexual orientatn and genr intyDonatg Blood✔ Legal wh rtrictnsConversn Therapy✔ Banned.