Biggest Gay Pride Parade Ever Lights Up Tel Aviv!

The Middle East is home to very few, if any open societies outside of Israel. Israelis march every year to show their continued support for gay rights and to send a message that every Jew, Muslim, and Christian in Israel should feel comfortable with their sexual identity. This year was biggest, with 100,000 people showing up to wave rainbow and Israeli flags.

Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Parade kicked off today at Meir Park with speeches by a number of top Israeli politicians who are very proud to support Israel’s open community and its diversity. Said Tzipi Livni, “Defending the gay community must be a mission for free society and its leadership, which needs to speak up and not give in.” MK Shelly Yacimovich spoke and encouraged Israeli politicians to come out of the closet and “not to be ashamed.”

Unlike many countries, Israel has long been a safe place for the LGBT community and was the first in Asia to have anti-discrimination laws. That is a fact everyone should be proud of.

To read more from Ynet, click here.

Photo provided by Meir Jacob on Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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