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Tel Aviv march concludes gay pride week
AVI MACHLIS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
TEL AVIV - Amid fluttering flags and a festive atmosphere, Or Marouani-Panner, a heavyset woman in a baseball cap, barked orders through a megaphone to gay groups gathering at central square.
Marouani-Panner, a lesbian and a professional events organizer, ran Israel's first-ever gay and lesbian parade. The June 26 march capped Israel's observance of gay pride week.
Marouani-Panner had estimated that about 1,000 Israeli homosexuals would attend the parade. Israeli news reports put the turnout as high as 3,000, a clear sign that Israeli gays are more self-confident then ever before.
At the march, gay couples openly embraced and lesbians walked hand in hand. They were joined by eight Knesset members, including Yael Dayan, the Labor lawmaker who has long lobbied for gay rights, and Modi Zanberg, from the Tsomet faction, who is believed to have become the first right-wing member of Knesset to attend a gay event.
"It's been a very good year for us," said Amnon Rahav, 35, a graphic designer with a shaved head and sunglasses. "Dana International has created a very strong momentum," he said, referring to the transsexual Israeli singer who recently won the Eurovision international song contest on Israel's behalf and was given a heroine's welcome by Israel's secular activists upon her return.
Rahav says the current Israeli government, and its outspoken fervently Orthodox partners, has actually helped their cause. It has created sympathy for gays among heterosexuals who despise anti-gay statements from religious leaders, he said, and has prompted the homosexual community to stand up for its rights with more determination. In addition, several homosexuals interviewed at the parade said Israeli gays enjoy a more favorable status than might be expected in a country with such a strong religious presence in politics.
Steven, an immigrant from Hoboken, N.J., who has been a gay-rights activist both in Israel and the United States, confirmed that "it's good to be gay in Israel."
"In many ways, Israel is way ahead of the U.S.," said Steven, who like many interviewed gave only his first name. "You cannot be refused for military service in Israel because you are gay, evicted from your home or fired from your job like in some places in America."
But amid the smiles and festivities, not everyone was upbeat. As the parade prepared to set out, a man wearing a knitted black kippah (skull cap) was scouring the square for a banner he planned to march behind: Orthodox Gays and Lesbians. The man is a gay Orthodox-ordained rabbi from New York who is living in Israel to do research for a book on homosexuality in Judaism. He distributes small notices for a support group based in Israel for Orthodox homosexuals. "Who are we?" it says. "We are Orthodox Jews who love the Torah." While gays and lesbians danced through the streets of Tel Aviv, the small group of about five Orthodox homosexuals who joined the parade appeared tormented by the conflict between their sexuality, their love for the Torah and the intolerance within the Orthodox community.
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