Israel's ernment is backg a public-relatns mpaign stylg the untry as a haven for the gay muny. Israel offers many legal protectns to gays a regn that is typilly hostile to them. But activists say the progrs me spe of — not bee of — the ernment
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ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH
Elements of Netanyahu-led aln have been openly hostile and rollg back of some gay laws is on agenda * israel gay community *
“The majory of the gay muny Israel is feelg very unsafe, ” said Hila Peer, the chairwoman of Aguda-The Associatn for LGBTQ Equaly Israel. Netanyahu and others his aln say they are mted to protectg gay rights, but the volatile polil suatn means the future is hard to predict.
ISRAEL PRENTS ITSELF AS HAVEN FOR GAY COMMUNY
* israel gay community *
Israel is known as a gay haven the Middle East, and Tel Aviv is equently ced as one of the most gay-iendly ci the world, wh a Pri para that draws hundreds of thoands of revelers om Israel and abroad. A rarely enforced ban on homosexual relatns was taken off the books 1988, and the army began allowg openly gay service members 1993 — the same year the U. Dpe the legal protectns, LGBTQ Israelis have long faced opposn om wh the haredi Orthodox sector, where rabbis veigh agast homosexualy and policians have vowed to n the untry acrdg to Orthodox terpretatns of Jewish law.
The Relig Znist Party, one of three the Relig Znist Bloc, is led by Bezalel Smotrich, who has lled himself a “proud homophobe” and has envisned Israel as a theocracy. He lled the ia of lettg medil provirs ny re to LGBTQ patients “unacceptable” and has appoted a close ally who is gay, Amir Ohana, as Knset speaker. LGBTQ Israelis are playg a ccial role the mountg anti-ernment protts, activatg a work that put some 100, 000 people the streets 2018 after Netanyahu voted agast a bill to allow gay upl to e surrogacy.
GAY ISRAEL
Explore our gay travel gui to Israel featurg LGBTQ+ safety tips, gay rights , top ci & attractns, where to stay and more! * israel gay community *
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. ”Wh the rollg back of gay adoptn and surrogacy laws on the new ernment’s legislative agenda, Rudner is worried about whether he will be able to have a fay.
Noam has lled for the ncellatn of Gay Pri Habashi, a transgenr Paltian cizen of Israel livg Jaffa, an Arab-majory area to Tel Aviv’s south, who works technology, said she found the polil suatn nfg. If we are gog to have a place for this type of talk public – transphobia and homophobia – will make a lot harr for me to live my life, and that’s sry, ” she said.
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. But for many years, Israeli lbians funneled most of their energi to femism, rather than the stggle for gay and lbian velopment of a gay inty was difficult for many at a time when Israeli society was still the midst of s Znist revolutn.