100,000 March For LGBT Pride In Tel Aviv

There was a record turnout in Israel today for the Gay Pride march in Tel Aviv, with at least one hundred thousand participating, making it the largest in the history of the Middle East.

The event began with a 10am gathering at Gan Meir on King Gorge and Tchernichovsky street. Kadima leader Tzipi Livni (head of the opposition in the Knesset) addressed the crowd, “[Israel cannot] afford the fear that turns into the hatred toward the other.” She continued by stating that gay rights are not a matter of politics but rather, “a matter of human beings respecting the others.”

In August last year, a crazed homophobic gunman killed two people and wounded 11 more at a LGBT youth counseling center in Tel Aviv. Today’s march began with a minute of silence for the victims of this rampage. A Gay Rights march in Jerusalem was victim to some violence and a stabbing in 2008 as well. Homophobia is one area where ultra-conservative Orthodox Jews and Islamic fundamentalists seem to share dogma.

Haaretz reports:

Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich, also addressed the festive crowd, that there were many complex tasks to be completed in the battle against ignorance and discrimination, and toward equal rights for the gay community.

Yachimovich added that in addition to the members of the gay community that were still in the closet, there were also several politicians “in the closet,” who voice their support of gay rights in private, but refrain from a public show of support.

“The time has come for the friends of the community to get out of the closet to ensure that this fight, a political one, will succeed,” the Labor MK said.

Following the morning rally, the march route went down Bugrashov street to Ben Yehuda street, down Arlozorov street, and ending at Gordon Beach on the waterfront where bands such as Jive64, Michal Amdursky, and Ellyott performed starting at 3pm.

This was the 13th annual Gay Pride parade in Tel Aviv, and event that grows with each year. Israel repealed the ban outlawing same sex acts in 1988, and Tel Aviv is a hub for gay civil rights in the region, although there are increasingly vocal communities in Jerusalem and Eilat, with large underground populations in Damascus, Cairo, Beirut, and Amman. This is the largest Gay Pride gathering in the history of the relatively conservative Middle East to date.

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