Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in today’s gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, whose theme this year is social equality for gays and lesbians. The parade marks the conclusion of Gay Pride Week.
Today’s events will kick off at 10 A.M. with a fair at Meir Park, where opposition leader Tzipi Livni and former Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog, a candidate to lead the Labor Party, are expected to speak. Also due to address the crowd is the head of the Knesset’s gay and lesbian caucus, MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz ).
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and city council members Yael Dayan and Yaniv Weizman are also scheduled to speak. The fair will also feature drag queens and music provided by disc jockeys.
At 1:30 P.M., the parade will embark from Meir Park, ending at Gordon Beach. It will be followed by a giant beach party featuring Israeli and foreign performers. The parade is expected to disrupt traffic in the center of the city. A number of streets will be closed for several hours between 8 A.M. and 4 P.M. A parking ban is in effect along the parade route from 7 A.M.
In addition to the main parade, this is the second year that a separate "radical" parade is being held, representing other views in the gay and lesbian community. The main parade is highly commercialized, said one of the radical parade’s organizers, Elisha Alexander.
"Basically, the ones making a big fuss are the ones making the most money. The voices of some of those in the community with less money are not being heard," he added.
"Part of our battle is not just saying how great it is to be gay, but also talking about the discrimination that exists, about things that need to be corrected. The radical parade has its own slogan. We don’t just want to fight homophobia in a superficial way and ignore all the other ills of society. The radical fight means that things need to be fundamentally changed; we don’t need cosmetic change."
The police rejected a request by organizers of the radical parade to hold their march on adjacent streets during the main procession. The police said they didn’t have adequate staff to cover both, but permission was granted to march the same route as the main parade, 10 minutes later. The organizers of the radical parade said they were unhappy with with the decision and may stage a protest on the main parade route.
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