LGBTQ Rights through a Global Lens

This past December I had the pleasure of attending the World LGBTQ Youth Leaders Summit, hosted by Israel Gay Youth in Tel Aviv. This was the first summit of its kind, a conference to focus on young (20 to 30 years old) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth from all around the globe. We shared our personal advocacy experiences, participated in workshops, watched a debate about whether courts or legislatures were the best course for advancing LGBT rights, and met members of the Israeli government at several different levels, including the Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Ron Huldai, who hosted a reception for us at Tel Aviv’s City Hall. It was so nice to feel so welcomed in the Jewish homeland, not just as a fellow Jew myself, but as a proudly open gay Jew. The summit was not just being tolerated, but instead embraced and held up as the inclusiveness of LGBT rights within Israeli democracy.

The conference included discussions similar to ones held in the United States, such as whether legislatures or courts are the best course to fight for LGBT human rights recognition within the law. This included a debate amongst some of the top debaters in Israel, all of whom have won recognition of their skills at the Worlds Universities Debating Championship. Both sides used compelling, though contradicting, examples from within Israel, and the United States, of cases where LGBT rights progressed due to court rulings or were only truly implemented when the legislature changed the law of without court compulsion.

We learned about the challenges and successes of LBGT issues in the education system. Minister of Education, Gideon Sa’ar, came to talk to us about LGBT rights in schools, and a gay youth group for 13 to 18 year olds within the larger gay center attended the speech with us. They told us that there was still a lot of progress needed in opening up schools in less tolerant neighborhoods. Unfortunately, in heavily Orthodox or Arab neighborhoods it is not as easy for LGBT groups to gain access to schools in order to be able to educate and support students. Even in Gan Meir park, where the Muncipial LGBTQ Center Community Center is located in Tel Aviv, there have been instances of hate crime assaults based on sexual orientation or gender identity that recently made headlines. Similarly to here in New York there has been much progress made in Tel Aviv, but things are not perfect and there is still work to be done.

The summit also included a day trip to Jerusalem where we got to visit the Knesset and meet with the Lobby Against LGBTQphobia. Co-chairs of the lobby, MK Nino Abesadze and openly gay MK Nitzan Horowitz, addressed us and welcomed all of us from around the world to discuss LGBT. Much to my delight Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni stopped in to our meeting and expressed solidarity with our cause and the need to protect LGBT rights across Israel and the world.

Many people feared that this summit would be an attempt by the Israeli government to “pinkwash” any human rights abuses it has inflicted on the Palestinian people. The International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization (IGLYO) pulled out of co-hosting the summit with Israel Gay Youth (IGY) due to pressure from the BDS (Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions) campaign against Israel. It took some soul searching, discussion, and contemplation for me to consider any possible negative impact on human rights caused by this conference. I couldn’t find a correlation between my discussing, promoting, and enhancing LGBTQ rights internationally through this summit and hurting the Palestinian people’s human rights. I felt that the organizers of the conference presented both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Though Israel Gay Youth is, and thus the summit was, sponsored in part by Israeli government funds, they made no attempt to discourage or restrict discussion of concerns of “pinkwashing.” The participants, including myself, brought it up several times throughout the conference. When we had some free time during the conference we got to discuss a bit more in depth our concerns for all Palestinians, including queer Palestinians. There were also several Israeli participants who were open to discussing the conflict and their views one on one. Israel Gay Youth claimed that they did offer a chance for Palestinian queer groups to join the summit but they declined because they did not want to be associated with anything that included funding from the Israeli government.

I am sympathetic to this stance and so on the second night of the summit I went with a group to an alternative gathering from a group of Israeli and Palestinian queer activists that explained their perspectives of why being part of this conference was harmful. I discussed how during my time at the LGBT Community Center here in New York, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had become a very provocative and energy consuming issue for an institution that has no official stance on the issue. An activist there then replied to me, “Well that is what I want. I want people in your Center to be discussing and fighting amongst themselves about this issue.”

I saw the importance of this issue being present in people’s minds and us having a debate on it. However, for myself and the other participants, it is not that Palestinian human rights are irrelevant, but that they can not sideline efforts to progress LGBTQ human rights. In my opinion it is dangerous for our community to divide on this issue to the point that it halts our working together to help LGBTQ people around the globe. It would be a victory for those that oppose the civil rights of LGBT people if this, or any other issue, were to become so divisive that we spent our time fighting each other instead of fighting inequality. Human rights, every group’s human rights, are important and no group should be sacrificed so another group can progress. At the end of our discussion that evening I think it was everyone’s feeling that we had to agree to disagree. I just couldn’t see how boycotting and divesting from a conference on LGBTQ rights helps anyone, including Palestinians.

Overall, the conference was a great start for a worldwide network of some of the next generation of LGBT rights leaders. Out of it was born the Rainbow Coalition and Action Network (RCAN) as a first step for us to continue working across continents, countries, and cultures. We hope this organization will be able to do work on the grassroots level all the way up through advocacy at the United Nations. I think this confederation of international LGBTQ activists is just what is needed in the world right now. Leaving the conference I felt an extra vigor for promoting, advocating for, and implementing human rights for LGBT people. The work being done around the world was inspirational and gave me hope that though there is still much to be done, the world is progressing in the right direction, towards equality for LGBT people everywhere.

Evan Davidoff is Development Associate for Annual Appeals at CBST.