The recent publications on alleged sexual harassment by Gal Ochowski and Itai Pinkas are paradoxically a sign of the maturation process that the LGBT society is going through. The reason: Minority groups tend to be closed and protect their members and especially those who lead them.
The unwillingness to “take out the dirty laundry” because of fear of outside criticism and the imposition of a criminal stigma on all members of the group tend to stop the complainants.
This is noticeable, for example, in the ultra-Orthodox society, where there is social pressure, indirect and direct, to silence any sign of delinquency and certainly sexual delinquency, including at the cost of harming and distancing oneself from the complainant and his family.
The group prefers to "sacrifice" the individual so as not to tarnish the rule.
On the other hand, the ability to go out and complain, especially about the figure of authority and more in cases where the injury was on the lower threshold (at least according to current publications), indicates feelings of strength within the community, and the extent to which this community is no less part of the broad mainstream.
Similar to various processes that have penetrated from the mainstream to this group, such as marriage (or marital alliance) and parenting, the ability to go against authority figures is also a sign of social acceptance and the group being part of the mainstream discourse.
The reaction from those who were accused and their friends also shows the extent to which they understood the new rules of the game: first of all apologize, do not blame the other side.
Society today embraces those who feel hurt and they no longer line up after the offender as in the past.
The new rules of the game, which have not yet been internalized by all members of the Israeli mainstream group, have also been internalized by the leaders of the LGBT group. In cases that are in the gray area, but the way to pave a new and clear boundary line is by actually presenting gray borders as black.
When it comes to sexual delinquency, studies show that the main cause of it is not sexual arousal because of the appearance or dress of the victim.
Sexual delinquency is an expression of a sense of power and a need for control in the abuser.
Knowing that you or you can hurt and not be punished for it frees the offender.
That's why concealment is so dangerous.
There is really no way to stop harassment and sexual assault when they are hidden.
The very concealment signals to the offender that the company is behind him and he can continue on his way unscathed.
Precisely when there is exposure of cases that are on the gray border, the danger of more serious injuries decreases.
The way to protect group members and create education for guarding borders is precisely through those cases that are on the gray border.
They create a perceptual fence that protects the weaker members of the group, those who tend to be the victims, from more serious injuries.
Thus, those who complained, precisely because they complained about low-level acts, did good to LGBT members in particular, and to Israeli society in general. Builds itself as a healthier society that protects its weak friends, the ones who are the easiest to make a victim of.