Tel Aviv Pride#Pride Parade

LGBT rights in Israel have progressed drastically since the years following the British Mandate of Palestine, during which homosexuality was outlawed. The clause stated that “every man who allowed another man to have intercourse with him risked up to ten years of imprisonment.”{{Cite web|url=http://yris.yira.org/acheson-prize/2453|title=Third Place — A Critical Examination of Israeli LGBT Advancements: Genuine Progress or Attempts at Elevated Global Status?|last=Lu|first=Nancy|date=June 2018|website=The Yale Review of International Studies}} In the 1960s, the Israeli Minister of Internal Affairs, Dr. Yosef Burg, described the phrase of "homosexual Jews" as an oxymoron given the biblical rejection of queer behavior. This provides a framework for the negative perceptions of homosexuality amongst Israeli politicians in the past. The legal code in Israel that once outlawed homosexuality was changed on March 22, 1988, effectively decriminalizing being gay.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Et5qb7eCB6wC&q=tel+aviv+gay+pride+parade&pg=PA180|title=The Contradictions of Israeli Citizenship: Land, Religion and State|last1=Ben-Porat|first1=Guy|last2=Turner|first2=Bryan S.|date=2011-05-24|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781136727382|language=en}}

The first event that many consider to be the first 'Pride' event to take place in Israel was a protest in 1979 at Kings of Israel Square. The first time that the Tel Aviv Pride Parade took place was in 1993.{{Cite journal|title='From the closet into the Knesset': Zionist sexual politics and the formation of settler subjectivity|journal = Settler Colonial Studies|volume = 8|issue = 4|pages = 442–463|last=Stelder|first=Mikki|date=August 20, 2017|doi=10.1080/2201473x.2017.1361885|doi-access=free}}

The parade assembles and begins at Meir Park, then travels along Bugrashov Street, Ben Yehuda Street and {{ill|Ben-Gurion Boulevard (Tel Aviv)|lt=Ben-Gurion Boulevard|he|שדרות בן-גוריון (תל אביב)}}, and culminates in a party in Charles Clore Park on the seafront. There were 200,000 participants reported in 2016, making it one of the largest in the world.{{cite web | url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-crowd-tel-aviv-streets-for-annal-pride-parade/ | title=200,000 crowd Tel Aviv streets for annual pride parade | publisher=Times of Israel | access-date=5 September 2016}} The parade is the biggest pride celebration in continental Asia, drawing more than 200,000 people in 2017, approximately 30,000 of them tourists.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/over-200000-attend-tel-aviv-gay-pride-parade-30000-from-abroad/|title=Over 200,000 attend Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade, some 30,000 from abroad|journal=The Times of Israel|date=2017-06-09|access-date=2017-07-29}} There were more than 250,000 participants reported in both 2018 and 2019.{{cite news |title=Tel Aviv pride parade draws 250,000 Israelis, foreigners |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/tel-aviv-pride-parade-draws-250-000-israelis-foreigners-n881466 |work=NBC News |date=8 June 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/israel/societe/1560513404-tel-aviv-plus-d-un-quart-de-million-de-participants-au-defile-de-la-gay-pride|title=i24NEWS|website=www.i24news.tv}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Tel-Aviv-Pride-Parade-kicks-off-for-21st-time-with-theme-The-Struggle-Continues-592539|title=Tel Aviv Pride Parade held with 250,000 attendants celebrating LGBTQ|website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com|date=August 20, 2019 }} As of June 2019, it is the largest LGBTQ event in Asia and also the first city in Israel to host a Pride parade. Smaller annual pride parades are also held in Jerusalem, Haifa and Be'er Sheva.

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File:Russia,Tel Aviv Pride. 2015.jpg

In the early years of the Pride Parade, the majority of participants were politically motivated. Later on, as the Parade grew, people who took part came with the notion that the Parade should focus on LGBTQ rights, equality and equal representation, and should not be used as a stage for radical politics, which are not accepted by most of the Parade's participants. Gradually, the Parade came to be less political due to the scale and diversity of participation. In recent years, the Parade's reputation for inclusiveness, along with Tel Aviv's world-class status as a gay-friendly destination and a top party city,{{Cite journal| url= http://www.jpost.com/Local-Israel/Tel-Aviv-And-Center/TA-in-worlds-10-best-party-towns| title=TA in world's 10 best party towns: city breaks into Lonely Planet guide|author=Zohar, Gil|journal=Jerusalem Post|date=2012-06-05 |access-date=2014-08-27}} has attracted more than 100,000 participants, many of them from around the world.

By 2000, the Parade had evolved from being a political demonstration and became more of a social-entertainment event and street celebration.

The eleventh Tel Aviv Pride Parade, which took place in 2008, was accompanied by the opening of the LGBT Centre in Tel Aviv. This is the first municipal gay centre in Israel, whose purpose is to provide services specifically for members of the city's LGBT community such as health care, cultural events, meetings of different LGBT groups, a coffee shop, and many others.

During the 2009 Pride Parade, which coincided with the centennial celebration of Tel Aviv's historic establishment as a city, five same-sex couples got married in what was called "the wedding of the century" by the Israeli celebrity Gal Uchovsky.

The parade on 10 June 2011 grew to an estimated 100,000 participants and included official representatives of LGBT groups from global companies such as Google and Microsoft. (Tel Aviv boasts one of the largest concentrations of hi-tech companies of any city in the world.){{cite journal|last=Levy|first=Stephen|author2=Matt Rees|date=1998-11-09|title=Focus on Technology: The Hot New Tech Cities|journal=Newsweek}} {{dubious|reason=citation is 13 years earlier than the event being discussed|date=August 2022}}

In 2012, the parade attracted crowds exceeding 100,000, making it again the largest gay pride event in the Middle East and Asia. The event is advertised all around the world by the Israeli Tourism Ministry, marking the city of Tel Aviv as "the" premiere LGBT tourism destination.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=253129|title=Huldai proud of Tel Aviv winning best gay city of 2011|author=JPost.com Staff|journal=Jerusalem Post|date=2012-01-11 |access-date=2014-08-27}}

For 2014, with an anticipated parade attendance of 150,000, a decision was made to move the after-parade beach party from Gordon Beach to Charles Clore Park. The event was hosted by Israeli actress/supermodel Moran Attias, with performances by Dana International, Mei Feingold, and Ninet.

In 2022 pride activists from the sustainability movement begin working on making the Middle East's largest pride parade more ecologically responsible.{{cite web | url=https://www.greenprophet.com/2022/06/green-pride-parades/ | title=Greening the pride parade, Tel Aviv - Green Prophet | date=June 6, 2022 }}

During 2024, out of respect for the ongoing Gaza war hostage crisis, Tel Aviv cancelled its pride parade.{{Cite news |date=8 May 2024 |title=Tel Aviv cancels annual Pride Parade out of respect for hostage situation |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/tel-aviv-cancels-annual-pride-parade-out-of-respect-for-hostage-situation/ |website=The Times of Israel}} The parade was once again canceled in 2025 amidst the June 2025 Iranian strikes against Israel.{{Cite web |title=Live updates: Israel strikes Iran's nuclear sites, killing top military leaders and scientists |url=https://apnews.com/live/israel-iran-attack |access-date=13 June 2025 |website=AP News |language=en}}

In Israel, LGBT activist groups have also criticized the Ministry of Tourism for disproportionately allocating funds to LGBT tourism as opposed to the real LGBT activist organizations. In 2016, the Ministry of Tourism spent $3 million on a campaign that concluded with a press release advertising a rainbow adorned airplane that the Ministry was going to use to transport gay bloggers and journalists to Israel.{{Cite journal|last=Gilly|first=Hartal|date=September 17, 2018|title=Re-Reading Homonationalism: An Israeli Spatial Perspective|journal=Journal of Homosexuality|volume=65|issue=10|pages=1391–1414|doi=10.1080/00918369.2017.1375364|pmid=28901841|s2cid=33715449}} Meanwhile, Israeli LGBT organizations only receive one tenth of the amount budgeted for this advertisement on a yearly basis. This disproportionate spending angered leaders of the LGBT organizations and caused Chen Arieli and Imri Kalman, who were the co-chairs of The Aguda – Israel's LGBT Task Force, to threaten to cancel the parade. The parade still took place that year, but the main outcome of this threat was that the Ministry of Tourism suspended its budget to attract gay tourism and added separate items to its budget for the LGBT organizations.{{Cite web|url=http://yris.yira.org/acheson-prize/2453|title=Third Place — A Critical Examination of Israeli LGBT Advancements: Genuine Progress or Attempts at Elevated Global Status? {{!}} The Yale Review of International Studies|date=June 3, 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-06}}

Proponents of the Pride Parade argue that it is an effective mechanism of integrating the LGBTQIA community into Israeli society. While the parade could have resulted in increased homophobia and anti-gay sentiment, it has fostered positive intergroup relationships. The parade is also supported financially and logistically by the Tel Aviv City Hall. This was the outcome of consistent requests made by Aguda, Israel's LGBT Task Force, in the first five years of the parade's existence.

• LGBT rights in Israel
• LGBT history in Israel
• TLVFest LGBT Film Festival
• Jerusalem gay pride parade
• Haifa Pride

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Gay Pride in Tel Aviv-Yafo}}

• Toi Staff, [https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-250000-revelers-flood-tel-aviv-for-gay-pride/ Over 250,000 revelers flood Tel Aviv for Israel’s biggest ever Gay Pride parade], The Times of Israel, June 8, 2018
• Information regarding Tel Aviv Pride on [https://www.gaytelavivguide.com/template/?PageId=16 Gay Tel Aviv Website].

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Category:LGBTQ culture in Tel Aviv

Category:Pride parades in Israel

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