lgbtq rights

Shatzi Weisberger at a pro-Palestine demonstration in New York, June 26, 2022. (Gili Getz)

‘Love in organizing’: A tribute to a queer Jew for Palestine

Shatzi Weisberger died at 92 after a lifetime of organizing for LGBTQ, Black, and Palestinian liberation. Her memory will fuel us in the struggles ahead.

By Theo Rehm January 5, 2023

Members of the LGBTQ community and supporters block Ayalon Highway to protest a Knesset bill denying surrogacy for same-sex couples, Tel Aviv on July 22, 2018. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

LGBTQ Israelis hold mass strike, protests demanding equality

A discriminatory surrogacy law sparks mass protests by LGBTQ Israelis, tens of thousands of whom take part in a nationwide general strike. Some 80,000 fill Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. By +972 Magazine Staff The Israeli LGBTQ community staged a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest discrimination and inequality, sparked by a new law to ease surrogacy…

By +972 Magazine July 22, 2018

Israelis take part in the annual pride parade in Tel Aviv, June 12, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

‘Just be grateful you’re not gay in Gaza’

As long as Palestinians are deprived of their rights by the occupation, we cannot view the achievements of the Israeli LGBTQ community as an indication of tolerance. By Noa Bassel Every year in June, during Pride Month, the inherent paradox built in to Israel’s political discourse reaches a fever pitch: the more oppressed a social group is, the more…

By Haokets June 7, 2018

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Over 100,000 thousand people participate in the annual Pride Parade in Tel Aviv, June 9, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Pinkwashing: Is it really so black and white?

We must remain critical when the Israeli government co-opts the LGBTQ struggle to divert attention from the occupation. But let’s not minimize the urgency of the situation for many queer people in Israel and across the Middle East. By Frederick Hertz There’s a tendency towards extreme dualism when it comes to the LGBTQ community in Israel. Two recent essays…

By +972 Magazine June 9, 2017

A pride flag at a protest against government incitement against Palestinians and the LGTBQ community in Israel, August 8, 2015, Tel Aviv. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

LGBTQ Israelis come out against occupation and homophobia

In response to online homophobic attacks, over 50 LGBTQ left-wing activists and NGO workers in Israel-Palestine release a statement condemning the occupation, racism and pinkwashing. By Yael (Yael) Marom The week before last a notorious extreme right-wing Israeli rapper posted another homophobic status on his Facebook page. The post, which was not the from a…

By Yali (Yael) Marom June 5, 2017

An activist wearing a gas mask, during Turkey's Pride Parade held in Istanbul, June 30, 2013. The parade held more the 30,000 participants. (Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

The far-right is wooing LGBTQs for one reason: Islamophobia

From Donald Trump, to Marine Le Pen, to the Israeli government, the far-right is rebranding itself as uniquely equipped to protect LGBTQ communities from homophobia — so long as it is coming from Muslims. On June 13, 2016, Donald Trump gave a speech in response to the mass shooting at an Orlando LGBTQ nightclub the previous night,…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland June 2, 2017