Shai Doitsch, a spokesman for Aguda, Israel's national gay organisation, said lesbians and gay men were not confined to specific bars or clubs. The city municipality funded a gay centre and was promoting gay tourism, he added. Two men walking hand in hand is a very normal thing,' he said. 'It's a very strong community here, a comfortable arena for the gay community. Lonely Planet named it one of its top three cities in the world for 2011, describing it as 'the flipside of Jerusalem, a modern Sin City on the sea rather than an ancient Holy City on a hill' and adding: 'There are more bars than synagogues, God is a DJ and everyone's body is a temple.' The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rarely on the radar.Īccording to Tel Aviv's 30-year-old deputy mayor, Asaf Zamir, 16% to 17% of the city's 403,000 population is gay. Tel Aviv, in sharp contrast to Jerusalem, is a liberal, hedonistic and secular city, where leisure life revolves around beaches, cafes and nightclubs.
Every square metre of shade was crammed, friends greeted one another with sweaty kisses and hugs, stalls selling ice-cold beer were doing brisk trade and traffic jams backed up around closed streets. The parade's organisers estimated that more than 100,000 Israelis, plus another 5,000 tourists, took part. 'The weather is hot, the guys are hot, it's a hot city,' said 28-year-old Amit Margalit, wearing turquoise shades and matching beads over his bare chest.
