Nides joins US Embassy-sponsored float at Tel Aviv Pride Parade

As the Middle East’s largest gay pride parade kicks off in Tel Aviv, US Ambassador Tom Nides stands alongside scantily clad, winged dancers on a dove-themed truck.

This is the US Embassy’s first time co-sponsoring a Pride Parade float, which it does in partnership with popular local LGBTQ bar Shpagat.

“I had float envy, because I was here last year and the Brits had a float, and we didn’t have a float. So this year we have a float. I never want to be one-upped by the British,” the ambassador jests to The Times of Israel.

“It’s really about bringing the community together, it’s about bringing our embassy staff together, and it’s about showing our respect for the LGBTQ community and the importance of democracy here in Israel,” he adds on a more serious note.

Near his float is a crowd of marchers decked out in rainbow flags and playing pro-democracy chants popularized by 22 weeks of ongoing protests against the hard-right government’s plan to weaken judicial checks on political power.

Nides, who is slated to leave his post this summer after two years, says that today’s event “will probably be my last pride parade as ambassador, but it will not be my last pride parade.”

“As someone who cares deeply about these issues, I hope to be doing this many more times,” he adds.