Global LGBTQ group suspends Israeli organization, angering queer Jews and allies

[Behind the Aegis]

An influential global advocacy group for LGBTQ rights has suspended an Israeli member organization as part of a larger move to boycott Israel, angering queer Jews and their allies around the world.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, known as ILGA World, announced on Wednesday that it was no longer considering Tel Aviv as a potential site for an upcoming conference in 2026 or 2027. The 46-year-old organization, which has a presence in more than 150 countries, added that it was suspending membership for The Aguda, the umbrella organization for Israel’s LGBTQ community, which had proposed the site.

In a statement, the group cited “compliance with our Constitution” and said The Aguda had violated the rules by putting forward Tel Aviv. ILGA World also apologized to its remaining members for the Tel Aviv proposal, saying, “We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities.”

It indicated it did so after facing a deluge of criticism from anti-Israeli activists.

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Straight up bigotry!

[sfdennis1]

1. Not Quite

It's not bigotry to avoid hosting a conference in an apartheid state. By 2026, with Trump's approval, Netanyahu will have exterminated most of the remaining Palestinians. Mazel Tov

[nycbos]

2. Israel is not an apartheid state.

20% of the population are Arabs. Most are Muslim but you also have Christians There's even a small persian Bahai community in Haifa. Israel granted them asylum after the Iranian revolution. Arabs in Israel vote, serve in parliament, the judiciary, and every aspect of Israeli society. Now do Israeli Arabs face discrimination? Of course. Every ethnic and religious minority face discrimination in every country in the world.

[sfdennis1]

3. Not Quite

Actually what Palestinians are experiencing is an attempted extermination. NO WHERE safe to escape to, and with humanitarian aid, food and medicine blocked by the Netanyahu government. You tell yourself whatever you need to do you can sleep at night, but the rest of the world can see what's going on. Apartheid and extermination.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. And yet, it does not exempt a group from being bigoted against its own members.

This is the LGBT group, do not make this an inditement on Israel, this is about a Queer organization attacking its own members. It is unacceptable. PERIOD!

Some non-Jewish American politicians also criticized the move. “Suspending an LGBTQ organization in Israel from participating in a global organization to advance LGBTQ rights does not advance peace or justice or the Palestinian cause,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. “If anything, it further marginalizes progressive voices within Israel.”

[nycbos]

5. Not to mention Israel is the only country in the middle east where LGBT people can live openly.