Gay Pride ... Jerusalem

Last week after days of protest and controversy I attened Jerusalem's Gay Pride parade, which actually turned into more of Gay Pride Rally. Believe me -- the rally was much much more fun than the parade ever could have been. One of Israels top hip hop bands played, it was a great day and despite threats the protests were kept far away from the rally.

The ultra orthodox Jews were protesting the parade for weeks, including blocking streets, burning tires and mild skirmishes with police. During the week the situations in Gaza began to escalate (more to follow in a future blog) and all groups, the LGBT community, Police/Government, and Ultra Orthodox were all able to claim some sort of victory by turning the parade into a rally.

Two years ago a fantatical Ultra Orthodox Jew stabbed three people that were marching in the parade so security alerts were remarkably high. Of course, the irony of Gay Life in Jerusalem is that it seems homophobia it is the only issue in the country that can bring muslim, jewish and christian leaders together.

Check out Jon Stewart's great piece on Gay Pride Jerusalem.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F2SGKs_eSu8