Israel

**Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Israel** are considered the most developed in the Middle East. Although same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1988, the former law against sodomy had not been enforced since a court decision in 1963. Israel became the first country in Asia to recognize unregistered cohabitation between same-sex couples, making it the first country in Asia to recognize same-sex unions in any capacity. Although same-sex marriages are not performed in the country (as it does not have civil non-religious marriages), Israel recognizes same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation was prohibited in 1992. Same-sex couples are allowed to jointly adopt, following a landmark court decision in 2008. Previously, stepchild adoption, as well as limited co-guardianship rights for non-biological parents, were permitted. LGBT people are also allowed to serve openly in the military.

Tel Aviv was referred to by the Calgary Herald as one of the most gay-friendly cities in the world, famous for its annual Pride parade and gay beach, earning it the nickname "the gay capital of the Middle East" by *Out* magazine. According to users of the website GayCities, it was ranked as the best gay city in 2011, despite reports of some anti-LGBT violence during the 2000s, which were criticized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. A monument dedicated to the gay victims of the Holocaust was erected in Tel Aviv in 2014. Opinion polls have found that a majority of Israelis support the legalization of same-sex marriage, as well as adoption and surrogacy rights for same-sex couples. During International Pride Month on 21 June 2020, Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality announced that same-sex couples would have exactly the same rights as opposite-sex marriages there, with this being provided by the municipality. Marriages inside the municipality will be legally recognized as others.

## Gender Identity and Expression

Treatment for gender dysphoria in Israel can be paid for using the country's public health insurance system if a patient receives approval by the Committee for Sex Reassignment operating out of Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, which consists of an endocrinologist, a urologist, and a plastic surgeon and is organized by the Health Ministry. All sex reassignment surgery operations in Israel are furthermore performed by Dr. Haim Kaplan at Sheba Medical Center under this committee's approval. However, many transgender Israelis have had trouble getting approval for treatment by this committee due to their stringent opinions on gender dysphoria. Thus, many pay out of pocket for hormone replacement therapy and/or go overseas for sex reassignment surgery.

A bill was introduced to the Knesset in June 2013 to eliminate gender markers on National Identity Cards, but it did not pass.

Since 2015, the Health Ministry has allowed transgender people to change legal gender without undergoing sex reassignment surgery or a sex change operation.

## Media

One of the first Israeli newspapers to cover the subject of gay people was a 1962 article in the now defunct *HaOlam HaZeh*. Taking a sensationalist tone, the newspaper warned of a "secret underground" movement within Israel.

In the 1980s, the Tel Aviv weekly newspaper *HaIr* began to publish a chronicle about an Israeli gay man, known at the time as *Moshe*, who would later reveal himself to be Gal Uchovsky. The second major shift in how Israeli media dealt with LGBT issues came in 1991, when the Histadrut Labor Federation began to include, in its official publication, a section on LGBT social and political topics. This was followed by gradually more supportive press coverage on the Israeli LGBT community and its human rights objectives. Today, the two Israeli daily newspapers have openly gay editors and/or writers, and several LGBT-publications have come and gone.

Radio stations such as Radio Tzafon and Radio Radius both have scheduled times for guests to come on the air and talk about LGBT social and political topics.

## Film and Television

The first Israeli LGBT-themed film came from openly gay director Amos Guttman and was called *Nagu'a* (English title *Drifting*). Guttman was its co-writer. The film follows a young Israeli gay man, living and working with his grandparents, who has dreams of making a film and finding true love. Guttman, who died of AIDS in 1993, would write and direct another Israeli gay-themed film titled *Amazing Grace* (1992). Both films are considered to be autobiographies of the director. In total, Guttman directed four films and three short films. His portrayal of Israeli gay men was dark, and his films are considered to be targeted at the LGBT community in Israel, and not to the general public.

Another notable Israeli director to tackle LGBT themes in films is Eytan Fox. His first film, *Time Off* (1990), was the second film made in Israel to focus on gay people. He has directed and written several other successful LGBT-themed films, including *Ba'al Ba'al Lev* (1997), *Yossi & Jagger* (2002), *Walk on Water* (2004), and *The Bubble* (2006). Fox was also involved in the first Israeli prime time TV drama made for a general audience which dealt extensively with LGBT themes, *Florentin* (1997–2000). This was an Israeli television series about a group of post-military service, Israeli twenty-somethings living in Florentin. It was the first Israeli series to have a gay person among its major characters, and was part of a slow trend that had been unfolding in the 1990s with shows such as *Straight and to the Point* and *Siton*.

Today, there is more programming for an LGBT audience. In 1993, the first commercial TV network in Israel, Channel 2, went on the air. It regularly dealt with LGBT social and political topics, and, in particular, helped generate greater visibility and acceptance of transgender celebrities such as Dana International. The LGBT community in Israel was also brought to the media's attention following the winning of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 by Dana International, an Israeli transwoman. At present, LGBT people in Israel can be seen on television in a variety of shows, mostly as hosts (such as Assi Azar), contestants in reality shows or characters on soap operas.