LGBT activist group joins Tel Aviv protest: ‘This reform already hurts us’

Activists from LGBTQ organization Hoshen block cars on Menachem Begin Street in Tel Aviv, after being blocked by police officers from marching on the Ayalon Highway.

Laura, a 20-something who works for Hoshen, dismissed criticism from some in the crowd nearby that their protest is inconveniencing ordinary citizens.

“It’s a day of resistance. We announced it last week and everyone who came with a car into central Tel Aviv should have known,” she says.

Asked why it was so important for her and her colleagues to be here today, Laura says she is worried about the composition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, especially far-right members who have swatted away LGBTQ civil rights.

“This reform already hurts us,” Laura says, pointing to fear in the LGBTQ education community, of which Hoshen is a main player.

Referring to MK Avi Maoz, who until recently was slated to take over an Education Ministry unit overseeing contractors like Hoshen that provide content to public schools, Laura adds: “There are people in this coalition who want to prevent specifically our organization from coming to schools.”

“Schools are asking for us less,” she claims. “We’re here to protest.”