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A program for LGBT youth in the periphery will be closed due to the budget crisis: "saves hundreds every day"

The non-transfer of the state budget is giving its signals, and among the first to be harmed will be youth from the proud community, whose "equal" program, which takes care of their integration into society, will be closed. Now, young people taking part in a framework that helps about 2,000 boys, are afraid of the day after: "Terrible news, this is a home for us"

• LGBT
• Pride
• State budget

Dana Yarkatzi

Employees of the "Equal" program for the empowerment and integration of youth from the gay community in the periphery have been summoned to a pre-dismissal hearing ahead of the program's closure, due to a lack of budget for next year. The move comes as part of a freeze on educational programs, stemming from not approving the state budget for next year.

The program, which by definition "creates spaces for proud youth in community centers around the country," assists about 2,000 youth from the LGBT community, and works in partnership with the proud youth organization Iggy. -Geographically.

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The freeze on educational programs resulting from the coalition crisis that prevents the approval of the state budget for next year. Education Minister Yoav Galant warned yesterday (Monday) that if no annual budget is passed soon, all educational and social programs will close. The budget for the supplementary and supplementary programs is currently estimated at NIS 4 billion. The annual budget of an equal program - about two million shekels.

Now that the sword of closure is hovering over it, young people and teens participating in the program express deep sorrow for the harm in the framework that allows them to experience a sense of belonging. The youth who participated in it report a significant change in their social status: from complete isolation to strengthening social circles. They talk about new relationships and social gatherings, where they talk about topics in a way that allows them to be part of a group.

"Among the best things that happened to me this year"

B., a 17-year-old from the northern region, told Walla! NEWS for her severe disappointment at the closure of the program. "When I was told the program was closing my jaw really fell, it was among the best things that happened to me this year. I'm relatively lonely at my school and it just gave me a frame of warmth and a home feeling. A place I was expecting to get to."

She recounted how the program improved her sense of belonging. "The program was part of the school and there were shuttles to it. At first I did not think I would have people say hello to them in the school corridors, but I knew many friends there, from the class below and above me. Thanks to that I have familiar acquaintances and faces at school I did not really know."

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B. continued, "This place is a listening ear for me, a place where I can talk about what I am going through. We are in the periphery anyway, stuck nowhere, if I lived in Tel Aviv I would have more frameworks, but in the periphery it is a more homophobic area than the center. "Being from the community and especially at school really isolates you from other people, and suddenly the program prevents you from the same loneliness."

"We have people who are still in the closet, it's much more stressful to be in the closet and it really causes loneliness. Suddenly there is a place where they can talk and be open, there is an atmosphere there that allows you to feel at home. Be as you want without masks. If the program closes - it It will be terrible, I can't even describe the feeling, it's one of the most important things I had this year. "

Matan, an 18-year-old trainee in the "Shavim" program from Misgav Givolim, described how the program helps him feel more belonging. "I joined the program at the beginning of the year and it basically allows proud youth to reach the frame, tell, share and prevent loneliness. The group gives everyone who is in it so much, beyond the values ​​- it gives together. This is reflected both in actions and beyond, in the strong bonds we build. Name each other, "he shared.

"This place gives so much, when first of all it's a lot of a sense of security. It's a kind of home for us, to belong to a certain movement," Matan continued. He said that when the place closes, it will make a lot of teens feel fear and insecurity. "If it closes - it's going to make a lot of people not be honest with themselves and be scared. We're trying to show ourselves a little bit, that there's no such thing as people just being scared. Closing the show would be a terrible mistake, beyond what it would affect me, it could give so much. A lot and it will be really terrible. "

"Hard decision, hope the government changes it"

Ronen Kowalski, vice president of society and community at the National Community Centers Society, said the closure of the Equal Program "means dropping the safe ground under the feet of some 2,000 LGBT youth, mostly in the periphery. As part of the program, the youth can hold social gatherings in the community where they live, and enjoy an envelope of support, inclusion, security and personal empowerment and feel at home, while integrating into the community and being active in it. "This means the social resilience that the community center society is promoting, and we hope that the government will be able to change the difficult decision, which could significantly undermine the lives of the youth."