[TEL AVIV, 12 June 09] One of the joys of my travels – or perhaps anyone’s – is the serendipity of happening on the unusual, surprising, inspiring, or fun. All four combined when I was able to witness the weddings of five gay couples on the beach in Tel Aviv, part of the city’s month-long Pride festival. An extra bonus was having my photos published in the magazine, Time Out Tel Aviv. (See published spread here, in Hebrew!)
Earlier in the day, Pride kicked off with a parade in which an estimated 20,000 people marched and/or observed (for most it was one and the same). This led to the beach, where a very fun afternoon festival commenced, with live (and lots of lip-synched!) musical acts performed from all over Europe, and the crowd enjoyed dancing when not swimming and sunning. At sunset, wedding bells – or the Jewish version thereof – commenced.
At first dismayed that I hadn’t gotten stage-front access to photograph the action, my response turned to delight when I went behind the stage, where almost no photographers had thought to go, and found some great shots of preparation for the big event – makeup, hair adjustment, posing for family photos, the flower girl awaiting her big moment. Sometimes the hidden view is the best!
From a report by Sara Miller in the Haaretz newspaper:
“Five gay couples wed Friday in a ceremonial marriage on Tel Aviv beach, at the culmination of the city’s 11th annual Gay Pride Parade, which saw more than 20,000 people take to the streets to promote gay rights.
“The ceremony, held at sundown after a boisterous disco on the sand, began with a serenade by gay pop star Ivri Lider as the three female and two male same-sex couples walked up to the Chuppah, the Jewish wedding altar.
“The ceremony was performed according to Jewish marriage rites, with each couple exchanging rings and Hebrew vows before breaking the traditional glass as the crowd erupted in applause. Nitzan Horowitz of Meretz, the Knesset’s first openly gay parliamentarian, attended the wedding, along with Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai.
“I hope that from this day weddings like this can happen in every place in Israel and not just in Tel Aviv,” Horowitz told Haaretz. “Weddings for everyone – man and woman, man and man, and woman and woman, and this will be the end of the monopoly of the ultra-Orthodox over our lives in Israel.”
“Israeli director Eytan Fox, whose movies “Walk on Water” and “The Bubble” deal with gay issues in Israel, was also there to mark the occasion.
“It’s a very important and historic day,” he said. “It’s very exciting and in the end the good guys won.”
“The parade was sponsored by Tel Aviv municipality as part of the city’s cetennial celebrations. The floats with their dancers, scantily clad youths and blasting pop music started out from Meir Park before winding their way through the city’s streets to the beachfront.
“A small group of right-wing and religious protesters demonstrated against the parade, holding up banners reading: “God hates debauchery.”
“Interior Minister Eli Yishai had called on Huldai and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the parade. On June 25, Jerusalem will host its own pride parade, an event which has in previous years sparked fierce opposition from Jewish and Muslim clerics and politicians.
Will close with my favorite photo from the event, an emotional one for me, is actually of a spectator with this evocative tattoo:
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