Gay demonstration in front of the police (Uri Sela)
The Givatayim municipality is the city that has promoted the needs of the gay community the most in the past year, according to the Association for LGBT Pride Index presented to President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday. According to the index, the Ramat Gan Municipality is in second place, Rishon LeZion Municipality is in third place, Kfar Saba is in fourth place, and the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has slipped to fifth place for the first time. The Jerusalem Municipality, the capital of the State of Israel, is also at the bottom of the ranking this year.
The index, which is being published ahead of Pride Month, on the eve of International Day of the Struggle against LGBT-Phobia, examined the attitude of local authorities across the country towards the LGBT community. It examined how they supported and promoted the needs of the community in the local space over the past year, in order to promote a safe space for LGBT people everywhere in Israel.
This year, a record number of 85 cities and municipalities with gay organizations accompanied by the LGBT Association were measured based on 34 questions in five categories: welfare, education, infrastructure, public visibility and culture. It was examined, among other things, whether the municipality approved registration of couples for LGBT couples in order to receive rights and services, whether there is an active social worker responsible for LGBT issues, whether welfare staff were trained on the subject, and whether the municipality supported activities marking Pride Month.
In seventh place is the Kiryat Bialik municipality, which has become the leading northern local authority in relation to LGBT people – registering an 18% increase compared to last year. In eighth place is the Modiin Maccabim Reut municipality, which opened a gay home in the city for the first time and promotes significant activities for LGBT youth and young people.
Index upheaval. Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv last year (Photo: Reuven Castro)
The Beer Sheva Municipality is the authority that holds the highest score in the southern region and is ranked ninth with an increase of 20%. Be'er Sheva shares ninth place with Kiryat Tivon, which leads among local councils. The largest improvement in LGBT attitudes was made by the Dimona municipality, which is ranked 30th with a 95% increase from the grade it received last year. This year, for the first time, the municipality appointed a coordinator for LGBT issues in the city and operated welfare centers designated for the population.
The Jerusalem Municipality, the capital of Israel and home to about one million residents, was ranked at the bottom of the ranking, along with 13 other municipalities that chose not to cooperate in responding to the index this year. The municipality refrains from taking public responsibility for the needs of its LGBT residents, and refrains from providing budgets and services that are accessible to the community. In this framework, it does not participate in funding Pride and Tolerance Month in the city and allows the Jerusalem Open House to compete for the support money only thanks to a Supreme Court ruling. Even after the ruling, the municipality created discriminatory budgetary mechanisms, an issue currently under discussion in the Supreme Court.
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"We will make sure that the equality revolution only grows"
"The LGBT community, in all its diversity, is one of the cornerstones of the Israeli mosaic," Herzog said. "Her contribution to Israeli society and the State of Israel is recognized, appreciated, and has also earned her a reputation and respect all over the world. We must continue to work to ensure that every citizen of Israel feels that their identity is protected and respected, and even more so – their personal and community safety. We have recently known a number of incidents in which the LGBT community has been the target of attacks – personal and public, and these things shock us all and should motivate us to take moral and meaningful action, because a person who was created in the image is loved."
Hila Pe'er, chairwoman of the Association for LGBT Rights, said, "The LGBT community is present in every region of Israel, in all sectors, from a variety of political spectrums and everywhere – we will not give up our voice and our place in Israeli society. The days when we had to hide and deny our identity are over, and we must never allow them to return. Now, when anti-LGBT hate speech is radicalizing in the streets and from within the government, we will make sure that the equality revolution will only grow until each and every one of us feels safe to be who they are and make our voices heard everywhere."
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