Israel’s unique position in the Middle East as a center of equality for all gets highlighted when the annual Gay Pride festivities kick off in Tel Aviv for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) communities. Voted the world’s best gay travel destination1, Tel Aviv will host over one hundred thousand tourists with events co-sponsored and supported by Tel Aviv city hall. Known as Israel’s cultural and economic capital, Tel Aviv embodies much of Israel’s new and pioneering spirit while retaining its heritage.

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Israel Pride 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
About TIP 2
Tel Aviv: Tolerance and Progress 3
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Rights in Tel Aviv and Israel 3
Useful Contacts 4
Updated: June 4, 2012

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Gay Pride Parade, Tel Aviv, June 2010
Tel Aviv: Tolerance and Progress
Israel’s unique position in the Middle East as a center of equality for all gets highlighted when the
annual Gay Pride festivities kick off in Tel Aviv for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender
(LGBT) communities.
Voted the world’s best gay travel destination
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, Tel Aviv will host over one hundred thousand tourists
with events co-sponsored and supported by Tel Aviv city hall. Known as Israel’s cultural and
economic capital, Tel Aviv embodies much of Israel’s new and pioneering spirit while retaining its
heritage.
“Tel Aviv lives up to its reputation as the gay capital of the Middle East. (Even the crosswalks are
painted in rainbow stripes,)” CNN wrote in its listing of the best picks around the world for celebrating
Pride.
2
“By far the most international city in Israel, Tel Aviv is also home to a large gay community, a kind of
San Francisco in the Middle East. Thanks to its university and museums, it is also the greenhouse for
Israel’s growing art, film and music scenes,” Lonely Planet wrote after naming Tel Aviv one of the
world’s “top ten cities in 2011.”
Tel Aviv is home to nearly 370,000 Jews and 33,000 Arabs and is well known for its tolerant lifestyle,
a ‘melting pot’ of race, creed, religion, gender and sexual orientation.
The week-long festivities will culminate in the annual Gay Pride parade and will be followed by the 7th
International LGBT Film Festival that this year will screen “queer cinema” from Turkey and Indonesia
as well as masters film-making classes.
Even without the LGBT reputation, Lonely Planet named Tel Aviv one of the world’s “top ten cities in
2011,” highlighting its progressive mindset:
“Tel Aviv is the total flipside of Jerusalem, a modern Sin City on the sea rather than an ancient Holy
City on a hill. Hedonism is the one religion that unites its inhabitants. There are more bars than
synagogues, God is a DJ and everyone’s body is a temple. Yet, scratch underneath the surface and
Tel Aviv, or TLV, reveals itself as a truly diverse 21st-century Mediterranean hub.
“By far the most international city in Israel, Tel Aviv is also home to a large gay community, a kind of
San Francisco in the Middle East. Thanks to its university and museums, it is also the greenhouse for
Israel’s growing art, film and music scenes.”
3
LGBT Rights in Israel
Israel has become one of the most progressive countries
in the world and is recognized as the most tolerant
country in the Middle East in legislating equality for
sexual minorities and ensuring their civil and personal
rights. A few years ago, Israel recognized the first
overseas adoption by a gay couple. The eight-year-old
Cambodian-born boy was granted Israeli citizenship.
In the Declaration of Establishment of the State of Israel,
it says: “Israel will be a state based on the principles of
liberty, justice and peace as envisioned by the prophets
of Israel; it will uphold the full social and political equality
of all its citizens, irrespective of religion, race or sex.”
4
1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2088319/Tel-Aviv-trumps-New-York-named-worlds-best-gay-city.html
2
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/28/travel/gay-pride-travel/index.html
3
“Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities for 2011,” Lonely Planet, Oct. 31, 2010, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city/travel-
tips-and-articles/76165

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First and foremost, gay rights are protected by Israeli law. Gay marriages – performed outside Israel –
are recognized by the state, and same-sex couples are permitted to adopt. Gays can serve openly in
the military, using the “don’t ask – don’t care” approach where sexual orientation is not an issue.
Gender reassignment surgery is legal and openly performed. The gay community has gained wide
acceptance throughout Israeli society, including in the political, legal, military and cultural areas. In
fact, the city of Tel Aviv has one of the most flourishing gay communities in the world.
Because of these freedoms – and intolerance of gays in Muslim countries and entities such as areas
controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), – Israel has become a haven for gay Palestinians who
flee persecution in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where they are subject to severe abuse by their
families, communities, Hamas and the PA.
Tel Aviv - The Gay Center of Israel
Out magazine called Tel Aviv “the gay capital of the Middle East.” But officials in the Israel Ministry of
Tourism have greater plans for the city’s gay community: They want Tel Aviv to be the “gay capital of
the world” and make it the hottest tourist destination for the international gay and lesbian community.
• Since the 1990s, Tel Aviv has hosted Israel’s largest gay pride parade, regularly drawing tens
of thousands each year
• Tel Aviv is home to Beit Dror, an emergency shelter for LGBT teens who have been rejected
by their families because of their sexual orientation.
• The gay nightlife in Tel Aviv rivals that of New York and London, with gay and lesbian bars
and clubs open until the morning
Significant Legislation and Developments in the Gay Community
In the last two decades, gay rights have advanced significantly — legally and politically — in Israel. In
addition to recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside of the country and legalizing adoptions
by lesbian and gay couples, there are numerous other examples of noteworthy legislation to advance
gay rights. For example:
• March 10, 2009: Tel Aviv family court rules that former Knesset member, the first openly
homosexual MK, Uzi Even and partner can legally adopt their foster son, making them the
first same-sex male couple in Israel whose right of adoption has been legally acknowledged.
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• April 25, 2008: For the first time, Israel recognizes an overseas adoption by a gay couple.
The adopted child, an eight-year-old Cambodian boy, was granted Israeli citizenship.
• February 12, 2008: The Israeli government grants gay and lesbian couples the same
adoption rights as heterosexual couples. Previously, gays and lesbians could only adopt
children that were their own biological offspring.
• March 2007: The Education Ministry recognizes the Israeli Gay Youth Organization (IGY),
enabling the organization to receive funding from the government. IGY, founded by the
Association of Gay Men, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgender (The Aguda) in 2002, is a
volunteer-based support organization for gay youth between the ages of 15 - 23.
6
• January 2007: In the city’s branch of the Interior Ministry’s Population Registry, Jerusalem
registers its first married gay couple; Avi and Binyamin Rose.
• November 2006: The High Court of Justice (Israel’s Supreme Court) sets a precedent by
ruling that the civil marriages of five gay couples wed in Canada may be registered as married
couples in Israel. (The Roses, above, married in June 2006, were not one of these five
couples.)
4
“Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Peace+Process/Guide+to+the+Peace+Process/Declaration+of+Establishment+of+State+of+Israel.ht
m [accessed Jun. 05, 2011]
5
Edelman, Ofra, “Court grants gay couple right to adopt 30-year-old foster son,” Haaretz, Mar. 11, 2009,
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/court-grants-gay-couple-right-to-adopt-30-year-old-foster-son-1.271855
6
HaAguda, http://www.glbt.org.il/he/

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• July 2003: The Tel Aviv municipality grants homosexuals the same spousal discounts
provided to heterosexual married couples at cultural, sport and other facilities.
• 1998: Same-sex partners are granted pension rights by the Civil Service Commission.
• 1997: The High Court of Justice overturns a decision by then-education minister Zevulun
Hammer, a member of the National Religious Party (‘Mafdal’), to ban a television program
about homosexual teenagers.
• November 1994: The High Court of Justice grants full spousal benefits to the partner of an El
Al airlines employee, paving the way for other same-sex couples to receive equal benefits.
• 1993: Former Knesset member Yael Dayan establishes a Knesset subcommittee on lesbian,
gay and bisexual issues. In the same year, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) implements an
anti-discrimination policy after Dr. Uzi Even, who had been an officer in the army, testifies to
the Knesset that he was discharged from the military and stripped of his security clearance
after the IDF discovered that he was gay. Even went on to become the first openly gay
Knesset member.
• 1992: The Knesset outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace.
• March 22, 1988: The Knesset decriminalizes homosexuality.
• 1975: The first Israeli organization for gays, the Society for the Protection of Personal Rights
(SPPR), is founded. Today, the organization is known as the Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual
and Transgender Association (The Aguda)
7
Useful Contacts
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Web site: http://www.acri.org.il/eng (English)
E-mail: mail@acri.org.il
Tel.: Jerusalem Tel.: 972-2-652-1218; Tel Aviv Tel.: 972-3-560-8185
The Aguda (Israeli Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association)
Tel: 972-3-620-5590
E-mail: info@aguda-ta.org.il
Web site: http://www.aguda-ta.org.il (Hebrew)
Beit Dror (House of Freedom in English) – Emergency Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans
Tel.: 972-3-516-4621
E-mail: bethdror@012.net.il
Web site: www.bethdror.org (Hebrew)
Israeli Gay Youth Organization (IGY)
Tel.: 972-3-560-0958
E-mail: office@igy.co.il
www.igy.co.il (Hebrew); http://www.igy.co.il/content/about_us_en.php (English)
Tehila – a support group for parents of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders
Tel.: 972-9-885-5822
E-mail: info@tehila.org.il
Web site: http://www.tehila.org.il/ (Hebrew)
7
Ibid.