BICOM

Tel Aviv will largely come to a standstill today as the city hosts one of the world’s largest gay pride parades. Up to 180,000 people are expected to participate in the city’s 17th annual parade.

Many of the city’s major streets will be closed to traffic as the parade makes its way from the Gan Meir Park in the centre of the city to the beach promenade, culminating in a party at the Charles Clore Park where Eurovision winner and LGBT rights representative Conchita Wurst will perform. An estimated 30,000 foreign tourists are thought to have arrived in Tel Aviv especially for today’s festivities which are the culmination of Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Week. The event is considered an important part of the city’s cultural identity.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Tel Aviv Loves All Genders,” focusing on supporting the transgender community. Tel Aviv City Council Member, Yaniv Weitzman said, “I hope people will come and connect with this agenda and be part of this message of support for the transgender community.”

On Wednesday, the first meeting of the current Knesset’s Gay Pride Caucus took place, led by Michal Rozin (Meretz), Merav Michaeli (Zionist Union), Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Yael German (Yesh Atid). In total 32 of the Knesset’s 120 members attended the meeting, where they discussed the challenges facing transgender people, hearing from teenagers and a teacher who are themselves transgender.

Meanwhile, Likud MK Anat Berko yesterday proposed legislation which would specifically define attacks on transgender people as hate crime. Current legislation allows crimes motivated by racial prejudice or the victim’s sexual preferences to be prosecuted as hate crime. However, it does not specifically address gender identity, which Berko’s bill would amend. A hate crime conviction can carry double the sentence as the same crime perpetrated due to another motive.