Participant says Tel Aviv Pride Parade an important counter to anti-LGBTQ politicians

In addition to the celebratory atmosphere, the Tel Aviv Pride Parade is also serving as a healing space for locals.

Omer Elad, 38, runs local transgender support organization the Gila Project, and is attending the parade alongside his entire family.

His parents, Tami and Shlomi, say they’ve marched with their transgender son at the Pride Parade for the past two decades.

Elad says he thinks today’s event is “especially” important in the current political climate.

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— אנה פינס Anna Pines ????️ (@AnnaPines_) June 8, 2023

“In the Knesset and in the government, there are people who are not ashamed to say transphobic and homophobic things and to try and delegitimize our existence,” he says, in reference to some far-right, ultra-Orthodox and even Likud politicians who have recently expressed anti-LGBTQ sentiments.

“For me, it means everything to be here and show people we’re here,” he adds.

Elad also marched in Jerusalem’s Pride Parade last week, where he says “the message is more about coexistence and tolerance, and here it’s about celebrating and taking space in the public sphere.”

Also, he argues, at 28 degrees Celsius (83 degrees Fahrenheit), Tel Aviv has nicer weather. Jerusalem is chillier and “you don’t wear a thong.”

Pulsating with electronic dance beats, floats are packed with shirtless men and women and a number of performers.

Among them is professional drag queen Fluid Snow, 32, from Jaffa.

“It’s my favorite thing in the world,” Fluid Snow yells down from his perch. “I get to perform in this body!”