Gay Pride in Jerusalem

By Mika Sullivan, November 13, 2006

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Personal Voice: "After religious conservatives tried to block the event, it became more than just a celebration of sexual diversity, but an expression of life and a protest against the religious influence on this modern democracy."

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The day was perfect -- sunny and unseasonably warm. It was just the weather that the organizers of WorldPride Jerusalem 2006 might have asked for. I headed over to where the event was being held, filled with expectations and righteousness and a little fear. In the last two weeks, the Haredim (religious people) have been rioting, setting real and fake bombs with warnings against holding the parade, and generally terrorizing Jerusalem. Thanks to their efforts, the international parade was moved to a corner of the city, then shortened considerably, then just stuck in a stadium on one of the Hebrew University campuses – nowhere near anything and far from any visibility in Jerusalem. Not only that, but the whole area around the stadium was closed off (we had to walk about 20 minutes from the first barriers to the stadium itself).

WorldPride Jerusalem 2006 was originally planned as a week of festivities to be held August 6-12, with a parade on the 10th. The parade was postponed because of the war in Lebanon, but various pride events around the city were carried out at the time. Since then, religious leaders from Judaism, Islam and Christianity got together in mutual support of the complete cancellation of the parade. The matter even went all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court, which ruled that the parade could happen. Communities all over the world were divided over this issue: Liberals thought maybe Jerusalem wasn't the right city to hold the parade, conservatives got upset with the suppression of free expression and vowed to attend despite moral opposition to homosexuality. Religious and conservative groups held their own protests in Jerusalem (including one where they had donkeys and other animals), and finally resorted to violent expression of their opposition.

On the day of the event, however, I didn't see any Haredim. I saw a few flamboyant gay pople, the reigning Queen of Jerusalem, a bunch of liberal secular Israelis like myself, almost as many police as people, and a single political activist, who also happened to be my flatmate's boyfriend. He brought a cardboard sign that said "Iran is here," referencing the suppression of free expression and lifestyle choice, and it was the most political message I saw. I found out later that the estimates ranged from 2,000 to 9,000 (most likely about 4,000) attendees and 3,000 police officers. Around 50 activists had tried to stage a spontaneous march along the planned route, but they were stopped. Apparently a bunch of anti-gay activists were arrested throughout the day, and one even made it into the stadium and tried to jump on stage.

The event’s motto was "Love Without Borders," and it was a celebration of sexual diversity, but really, it was also much more than that. If it wasn't before, then now especially after the Haredi reaction and successful downgrading of the event, it was about freedom of speech and expression and life, and protesting the religious influence on this modern democracy. In that respect, I was disappointed. So much potential, so little follow-through. As my flatmate pointed out, there had been something creepy about the "tomb-like silence" surrounding the procession as we walked the planned route of the parade on our way to the small, enclosed, easily-ignored and inoffensive stadium.

That said, I'm glad that I went. Coming from San Francisco to Jerusalem hasn't always been an easy transition, and I realized after leaving the event yesterday that it had been the first time I felt really and truly comfortable to just "be" in this city. With the religious, political, historicalâ€∫everything tensions, it is sometimes hard to breathe. I may be a straight, white, educated Jew, but I can still feel like a sinner here just being nonobservant; I'm a woman who wears what she wants, says what she thinks, supports Palestinian rights, and generally thinks every human has a right to live with full rights in an open society regardless of race or sexual preference or religiosity or whatever. And yesterday, for a couple of hours at least, I was with a bunch of other people who feel the same way. And we were in Jerusalem.

That's part of why I wish a bigger deal was made about the significance of the event. It wasn't just about gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual pride (yes, they did include the "straightim" – heterosexuals). It was about the right to exist as a human, whatever the circumstances, and not have to hide or apologize or suppress anything about it. They said next year they want it to be bigger, but I don't know how they're planning to make that happen. The Haredim learned that violent protest is a successful method of getting what they want, so there's no reason they will think differently next year. I am disappointed in the City of Jerusalem and the Israeli government for bowing to such pressures, but I'm still going to take my memories of the little piddly festival and treasure them, because it is something. Yay gay.

You can read more about the event on:

Ynet.com

the Jerusalem Post

the New York Times

And read more about Mika Sullivan's experiences as a young Israeli-American living in Israel on her blog, the Adventures of Mika.