As (most of) you know by now, since 2010 A Wider Bridge has been building a movement of LGBTQ people and allies, Jews and non-Jews, with strong interest in and commitment to Israel and its LGBTQ community. Many stories, events and comments have been passing through our LGBTQ North America-Israel Bridge in 2015. Here are […]
5775 has been a stormy year as far as the Israeli LGBT community is concerned, so picking 12 milestones that were important to the progress of the community is an extremely hard mission. But Facebook page “LGBT Israel,” the Israeli community’s biggest page in social media, has taken up the challenge and throughout the first […]
A Wider Bridge’s Executive Director penned this week’s Ten Minutes of Torah on the Reform Judaism website. Read Arthur Slepian’s remarks on the LGBT community in Israel, on transgender visibility and on the horrible stabbing at the Jerusalem Pride March. Seated around one half of a large table in a meeting room were members of the […]
A Wider Bridge’s Advisory Board member Chris McCannell just came back from Israel after taking part in Tel Aviv’s first LGBT leadership conference, where he heard Mayor Ed Murray’s speech, and has something to say to those who tried to prevent Mayor Murray’s from attending the conference. The recent opinion editorial “Seattle mayor’s trip highlights […]
As people prepared this week for San Francisco Pride and the 45th annual parade, a number of Northern California LGBTQ Jewish leaders were already riding their post-Pride high, having just returned from the Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade and an international LGBTQ conference in Israel. Held June 9 to 11 in Tel Aviv, “40 Years […]
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has been taking bold steps to help his constituents throughout his political career, but coming to Israel and the Palestinian Authority this week has been an unconventional move. Murray, who is one of the top gay public officials in America, came to Tel Aviv for its “40 Years of Pride” conference that […]
Israeli website Ynet News summarizes Mayor Ed Murray’s Israel visit, which included a participation in the 40 Years of Pride conference Openly gay Seattle Mayor Ed Murray will be among those celebrating Israel’s LGBT community at Friday’s Tel Aviv Pride Parade, despite pressure to cancel his visit. The planned visit raised objections among activists in […]
Rather than condemning the mayor’s trip to Israel, we should encourage him and others to go learn firsthand. Former secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, once said, “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.” This is my response to local activists who oppose […]
Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is right to participate in the Tel Aviv 40 Years of Pride conference. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray’s participation in a Tel Aviv celebration of Israel’s LGBTQ accomplishments has sparked predictable reactions from the extreme ends of the Israeli-Palestinian debate. There is no reason that support of gender rights and Palestinian rights […]
The Seattle Times is reporting that some activists are protesting Mayor Ed Murray’s upcoming trip to israel, where he will give the keynote address at 40 Years of Pride, the global LGBTQ leadership conference sponsored by A Wider Bridge and The Aguda. Despite the anti-Israel protests, Mayor Murray expressed no intention to cancel his trip […]