Tens of thousands march in 25th Tel Aviv Pride parade

June 12, 2023



Tens of thousands &mdash; 150,000, according to the  &mdash; paraded Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel, part of the 25th yearly edition of the Middle East's largest LGBT.

The Associated Press (AP) described a celebratory mood, drawing a distinction with a on June 1, where police deployed over 2,000 officers for security. Visitors to Tel Aviv joined the event in the thousands.

Israeli Ohad Huri, who dyed his beard the rainbow colors, told the AP: "I'm a minority. I want to save my rights. I want to fight for the rights of other minorities. I want equality. That's about it."

The Times of Israel interviewed Omer Elad, the head of a local transgender group, who said the parade was "especially" important given Israel's political situation. National Security Minister has previously protested the festival,, a deputy minister, questioned its legality and Finance Minister  has called himself a "proud homophobe".

The AP considered Israel relatively accepting of LGBT people, in contrast to other Middle Eastern countries.