The Stream

Israel’s gay exodus?

New research suggests ongoing problems are driving the country’s LGBTQ community to seek life abroad.

Tel Aviv is widely known as the gay capital of the Middle East. The city’s annual Gay Pride Parade, which drew more than 100,000 participants this year, has been growing for 16 years. A lot of legal progress favouring the LGBTQ community has also been made. Despite this, the country’s gay-friendly image is being challenged by two researchers who argue that economic, political and social problems, as well as homophobia, are driving LGBTQ Israelis to seek life abroad. They join us at 1930 GMT.

In this episode, we speak to:

Ruth Preser 
Post-doctoral fellow, Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI)-Berlin
ici-berlin.org

Hila Amit
PhD student, University of London

Evan Cohen
Chairman, Likud Pride

Aviv Netter 
DJ and founder, Meschugge Berlin