Israel has published a website touting it's record on gay rights and the GLBT community in Israel. Some of this has been met with derision and accusations of "pinkwashing" while other call these accusations nonsense. I think that both have interesting points, and there is something to note when the far-far-right Avigdor Lieberman suddenly becomes the GLBT community's best friend, but I don't know politics enough to know if there's truely "pinkwashing" going on or if Israel is just doing PR. But this sudden chumminess of the Israeli government, especially the current one, with the GLBT community makes me a bit skeptical.
The claim that Tel Aviv is the gay center of the Middle East is absolutely true; there is nowhere else in the Middle East that has an open gay community like that in Tel Aviv, that has the protection of the government, and that has laws explicitly providing equality to GLBT people. That is 100% correct. There are gay bars here, nightly GLBT parties at various clubs, the national gay rights organization Agudah and adjoined café, the annual GLBT film festival and pride parade, youth outreach programs, the Israel AIDS Taskforce; all located in Tel Aviv. There isn't even a "gay-borhood" in Tel Aviv, which I think says a lot to how integrated the GLBT community is into the wider community.
But, on the same hand, being the "gay capital of the Middle East" is a pretty low bar to clear considering most Arab countries still outlaw homosexuality, akin to saying you've got the biggest dick in the room if you're the only man standing in a nunnery. It's also a bit irrelevant since Tel Aviv is essentially off-limits to most Middle Easterners, due in part to Israel's own policies. Indeed, the one gay Arab population Israel could actively help, Palestinians, are forbidden from entering Israel or applying for asylum for any reason, including due to persecution based to their sexual orientation. So to call yourself the gay capital of the Middle East when most Middle Eastern gays can't come to it, and when you actively prevent Middle Eastern gays from coming to it, makes the title ring a bit hollow and feels more like stam marketing than a genuine effort.
Additionaly, most of the rights that the Israeli GLBT community has are because of court rulings (including everything from adoption to marriage to diplomatic status) as opposed to the Knesset actually passing legislation, meaning that the equality that Simon and I enjoy and depend upon is only begrudingly granted to us. That's seemingly just semantics, but it makes a huge difference when you're walking into the Interior Ministry (which is currently run by a haredi Shas minister) to request a residency visa and you know they only have to give you one because the court forced them to*. And even then they can drag their feet. And, while a majority of the secular population is all for gay rights, that's not the case for the entire Israeli population. Indeed, the right-wing coalition at the moment is trying to change the way the Supreme Court justices are selected to ensure more conservative judges on the court and prevent all types of "liberal" rulings.
And in the gay capital of the Middle East:
"Despite a free and liberal vibe in Tel Aviv, the LGBT community has to constantly face vicious campaigns by members of the Knesset and the government that throw preposterous accusations our way, that we cause earthquakes and should be treated in the same way they deal with bird flu, that LGBT internet sites of news, entertainment and dating are pornographic and should be censored and prohibited." (source)
The main defence people always like to throw out when this contradiction is brought up is, "well, look what they do to gays in Iran!". And they're right: it's certainly worse for the GLBT community in Iran and in many Middle Eastern countries. But bad behavior is bad behavior, and ignoring Israel's shortcomings because somewhere else is worse is like ignoring diabetes because someone else has cancer: both are deterimental to your health, and both need to be addressed and treated. Just because somewhere else is worse doesn't automatically make you OK, especially when things would be worse if you had had your way.
Andrew Sullivan has a point: accusations of pinkwashing shouldn't downplay the the successes of the Israeli GLBT community. So credit given where credit is due and the Israeli GLBT community is due its credit; I certainly benefit from their work and struggles, and Simon and I are immensely grateful for it. But I don't know that the Israeli government, who fought tooth-and-nail to deny the GLBT community these rights, gets to turn around and requisition those victories for their own gain after doing everything possible to thwart them.
I think the inclusion of the GLBT community has been a benefit to Israeli society, Jewish and Arab alike, though to different extents. But let's not act like the Israeli government has been passing boatloads of laws to protect gays and lesbians in Israel, because that simply isn't the case.
To me the question isn't "is Israel pinkwashing?", the question is "why is Israel suddenly so eager to be pink?".
*That being said, Simon and I have only been met with courtesy and professionalism every time we've gone to the Interior Ministry offices, both in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
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