Behind the colorful images of the annual Gay Pride Parade in Tel Aviv is a dimension of legal equality or gay people. Israel is not only an island of LGBT freedom in the Middle East, but also one of the most progressive countries in the world on the issue — Israel allows and enables alternative parenting and family models that are still largely unheard-of in Germany today. However, the topic of LGBT rights also reveals the profound chasm in Israeli society between the Tel Aviv “bubble” and the rest of the country, between ultraprogressive and ultra-conservative thought patterns and ways of life.
Edited by Nora Pester
Photographs by Ilan Nachum
With contributions by Nora Pester, Sarah Pohl, Frederik Schindler, Arye Sharuz Shalicar, Noa Golani and interviews with the photographer Benyamin Reich and The Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance
Content
Legal situation – Queer family structures and parenting – An Oasis of Freedom in the Middle East – “Pinkwasing” – The Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance – Being Gay and Religious – LGBT and Army – Being Queer and a Zionist
Ilan Nachum
was born in Jerusalem and lives in Tel Aviv. He studied film at the Beit-Zvi School for Performing Arts before working for many years as a camera man for channels such as the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Arte, History Channel or P.B.S, making commercials, music videos and feature films. Nachum has taught photography and film at the Ma’ale School of Film in Jerusalem and at the Minshar School of the Arts in Tel Aviv since 2002. In 2008, Nachum resumed his work as a freelance photographer, and is now counted as one of the leading Israeli photographers for food, design and architecture. Nachum has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and book publications. His opulent coffee-table book “Tel Aviv – one day in the city’s life” was published in 2014.
