ISRAEL: Gay, lesbians and supporters take to the touristic town of Eilat for the 7th annual Gay Pride Parade

Record ID: 277202

  • Title: ISRAEL: Gay, lesbians and supporters take to the touristic town of Eilat for the 7th annual Gay Pride Parade
  • Date: 25th May 2008
  • Summary: (NIGHT SHOTS) WIDE OF CROWD AT GAY AND LESBIAN COMMUNITY PRIDE PARTY DJ POSITION TWO MEN DANCING VARIOUS OF DJ AT WORK VARIOUS OF TWO WOMEN DANCING (SOUNDBITE) (English) GROUP OF TOURISTS FROM THE UK SAYING "The weather, the people, it's amazing the people, it's so good, it's lovely." (SOUNDBITE) (English) GROUP OF TOURISTS FROM THE UK SAYING "Love you England!" WIDE OF
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA9ZWJ6F3YHZH0JGQ448Z6K027N
  • Story Text: Thousands of gays, lesbians and their friends convened in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, to celebrate the 7th annual Gay Pride Festival. Celebrations lasted for four full days, and climaxed with the Gay Pride Parade on Friday (May 16), that passed through the touristic town.
    Participants, many of them in drag, danced on top of trucks and floats decorated with symbols of love.
    After the parade reached the Eilat airport, many participants moved the party to various beaches throughout the town, and enjoyed the sunny afternoon in the cool waters of the Red Sea.
    Throughout the night, gay and lesbian community members stormed party after party, led by Israel's top DJs.
    Israel, home to a majority of secular Jews, is the only country in the Middle East which holds such parades. Israel is also the only country in the region that has legalised gay sex, fuelling anger among it's minority of Ultra-Orthodox community.
    Reforms for legitimising the lesbian and gay movement in Israel started in the 1990s, with the establishment of new laws and the ending of discriminatory rules in the military in 1993. In 2000, the age of consent was lowered to 16. Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government in 2006 to recognize same sex marriages that were performed abroad, giving same sex couples tax breaks and other benefits. Earlier this year Israel's Attorney General ruled that same sex couples will be able to adopt a child who is unrelated to the couple.
    However, anti-gay sentiments are still very common in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and past attempts to hold a pride parade in the city of Jerusalem were met with continuing attempts to block the event in court, and violent incidents weeks before and during the parades.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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