hello all

[keracheser]

Hello everybody,
I just arrived..thought I should say hi...
45 y.o, single, from Israel,
love to chat with and know new people

[Bookworm]

Hi, welcome to the forum mile:

[simon]

Hello everybody,
I just arrived..thought I should say hi...
45 y.o, single, from Israel,
love to chat with and know new people

hi there,

whats it like for gay men in Israel?

[Beaux]

Hi and Welcome! mile:

[keracheser]

Thanks for the warm welcome :-)

[fenris]

Hi and Welcome mile:

[keracheser]

hi there,

whats it like for gay men in Israel?

Hello Simon,
Well... they say Israel is a heaven for gay people...I mostly agree.
Let's see what I can add to that...
Law is very pro gay people and I think it will be pretty accurate to say that Israel has a very progressive law regarding gay and lesbian people. I don't think we already have equal rights in everything, but we are getting there.
As for society- it strongly depends on where you are.
Israeli society is very heterogenous.
Orthodox jews- well, the most extreme groups either deny homosexuality even exist in their society. You can find them in parks seeking sex (sometimes with young prostitutes who are gay guys from the same communities who were thrown to the streets because of being gay).
Less extreme communities- well, there is a fascinating process of admitting that there is such a thing as homosexuality, and a trend towards a public discussion on gay topics within those communities. Surprisingly, you can even find real acceptance sometimes (within families, rabbais) which should not taken for granted.
There is also a gay orthodox rabbai, rabbai RON YOSSEF who does great work within the orthodox community.
Muslim society- is heterogenous as well. In general, if you are muslim and want to live "out" you'd better go to Tel Aviv.
Tel Aviv is the symbol and capital of gay life in Israel.
It is extremely pluralistic. Gay life is rich and in the open, including gay community center, gay clubs, all kind of gay activities. You often see gay couples with children (most of my gay friends). One of our jokes is that if you go to a kindergarten in Tel Aviv, it's almost impossible to find a child who is from an old fashioned family of a mother, a father, kids and a dog..lol
The important things are that there is a country-wide activities for gay youth, almost in every medium to big city.
There are many gay and lesbian people in the media- musicians, actors, film directors etc. (it wasnt that way when I was a teenager and thus I know what a difference can such a minor thing impose on youth).

I spoke too much.
I just have to mention that only two years ago, two youngsters were shot dead and some other wounded in a gay youth community club in Tel Aviv, and the murderer is still out there... so, it's not a complete heaven yet...

Will be glad to share more, if you find it itneresting.
I don't ask you how it is in the U.K since my first steps in knowing such a thing as "gay life" were done in London, so I have a clue about what it is like...


Z.

[stu]

That's very interesting keracheser, all we here about Israel over here is bad news.

[jamiebfd]

hi and welcome to GS
nice to meet you

[simon]

thanks keracheser for that answer,I ask because I remember watching a film called "Eyes Wide Open" so was wondering if it was really as bad as the film protryed,guess the film was concentrating on the religious element rather than the whole country.