Israel's New Leader Promises To Protect LGBTQ+ Rights
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said that “There will be no harm to Pride parades nor to the status-quo on LGBTQ rights,” following statements made by lawmakers from the Religious Zionism slate that they intend to work to cancel Pride parades in the country.
Sources in Likud said the party intends to cancel measures by the outgoing government promoting LGBTQ+ rights, although it remains unclear what reforms could be targeted.
MK Avi Maoz, Chairman of the Noam party which is part of the Religious Zionism ticket and runs on a "pro-family" platform, in an interview to IDF Radio said: “We will look into canceling the pride parade legally. Who holds a public parade that is all provocation? Do you know how offensive such a parade in Jerusalem is to us?”
On Thursday, Yitzhak Wasserlauf, ranked fifth on the Religious Zionism ticket, said that he opposes Pride parades. When asked on Radio Jerusalem whether he would act against the parade, he replied, “Insofar as I am called upon to do so, I will express my opinion, of course… I’m against people dancing in the streets in their underwear.”
Likud is expected to start coalition negotiations with each of the three parties that make up Religious Zionism, including the Noam party, which promotes religious conservatism and opposes civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community.
A senior Likud source told Haaretz on Wednesday that his party will look into reversing several protections advanced by the Bennett-Lapid government, including some decisions made by outgoing Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, which safeguard LGBTQ+ rights.
No decision has been made on which decisions could be reversed, but the health ministry's order banning “conversion” therapy, removing insurance coverage for gender-affirming healthcare, and reimposing a ban preventing gay men from donating blood are all under consideration.
LGBTQ+ organizations have voiced concerns in recent days that the incoming government will launch an attack on LGBTQ+ rights. “It’s obvious that there’s a community in the crosshairs here,” Hila Peer, Chairwoman of the Aguda (“Israel’s LGBT Task Force”) told Haaretz. “The LGBTQ community is not going to take this silently. We are being put to the test as a community and as a country.”
Rotem Shorek, Director of the “Passages to the Trans Spectrum” organization, sounded more optimistic. “Taking medications out of the insurance package, for instance, is impractical,” she explained to Haaretz. “The professional echelons in all the ministries that have crafted procedures regarding the community know us, and outdated conceptions about the community have little traction among the professional ranks. I believe that even should there be calls to cancel our rights, we have allies. However difficult and scary it is, I’m optimistic.”
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