Come On Tel Aviv, Show Your Pride!

It’s a beautiful day in Tel Aviv this morning! The sun is shining, spirits are high, and love is in the air! What better time then now to celebrate gay pride, right?


That’s right folks, today was the 2010 Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade-my first one ever, and boy have I been missing out. Although, by the time my friend Ido and I joined the festivities, the parade had long ended and progressed into a full-blown party on Gordon beach. I was pretty let down that I missed the parade. But the massive beach party was fantastic, and it didn’t take very long at all for me to forget about my disappointment altogether.


There must have been 3,000 people on the beach that day-all of them doused in rainbows and smiling ear to ear. The spirit and vibrancy of the crowd was like nothing I’ve ever seen, and the feeling was undoubtedly contagious. Amidst the chaos on the beach, there were three or four tents where partygoers could purchase beer and rainbow souvenirs. In the center, there was a large stage for live musical performances. Because as we all know, there’s no party with out music, and there were multiple performers taking turns entertaining us on stage. The headlining performer of the day was the immensely popular Dana International- a singing, dancing, post-op transvestite whose face is plastered all over Israeli television and magazines. As she pranced back and forth on stage in what looked like a shimmering silver ice-skating uniform, the pride party attendees went absolutely crazy. She also happens to be one of the judges on Israeli Idol this year! Go figure.




After dancing among hundreds of men so gay they put Bruno to shame, Ido and I did a few circles around the perimeter of the party to grab some beers and do a little people watching. Within about an hour or so, we finally laid a blanket down on the sand, just 20ft away from the cool blue water of the Mediterranean Sea, and relaxed while the good vibes, perfect weather, and intoxicating atmosphere took us away.

We laid out in the sun for a couple hours and then topped off the afternoon with a quick but refreshing dip in the water. Ronen joined us shortly after, but by the time he got to us the party was breaking up and the people were beginning to disperse. Too bad for him. It was an experience I will never forget!