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Silence and complacency are not an option for Israel’s LGBTQ community

Proposed reforms of country’s judiciary have sparked widespread protests

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LGBTQ and intersex activists participate in a protest against proposed reforms to Israel's judiciary. (Photo courtesy of George Avni)

WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel.

Thursday was another record day for the protests against the legal revolution that members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are trying to carry out. High-tech employees and business owners, doctors and nurses, professors, teachers and students, economists and intellectuals, parents and children, security personnel and activists have united in the protest movement and the number of weekly demonstrations against the coup d’Ć©tat have increased.

What began as a single demonstration in Tel Aviv 10 weeks ago turned into a huge demonstration of about 300,000 people in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem about a month ago. This movement two weeks ago turned into a Day of Disruption throughout the country and reached its peak on Thursday with the declaration of a National Day of Resistance.

LGBTQ and intersex people and organizations have joined the struggle.

LGBTQ and intersex organizations on Thursday morning held their own protest in Tel Aviv’s Culture Square before they marched with Israeli and Pride flags and joined other protest groups in front of the city’s government building.

These organizations took part in the first demonstrations that took place more than two months ago. They formed a larger LGBTQ group and marched together as one, with gay party promoters joining them later. The Aguda, Hoshan, IGY (Israel Gay Youth), the Gila Project and Maavarim rented buses for LGBTQ and intersex people who wanted to go to Jerusalem and demonstrate in the capital.

Next step: Cancelling the right to LGBTQ parenthood

One of the largest protests to date is the Day of Disruption that took place on March 1.

The day, which began as protests that took place in dozens of cities across Israel as MKs passed bills, for the first time during the protest movement saw violent scenes between protesters and police officers, who used stun grenades to disperse them.

The Aguda and Hoshan before the Day of Disruption hung signs in the train stations that simulated a train route. Bills that would discriminate against the LGBTQ and intersex community and simulating life after the legal revolution’s approval in the Knesset were written in place of station name: The first stop was the cancellation of Pride parades, followed by the cancellation of transgender pregnancies, a ban on discussing LGBTQ and intersex issues in schools and in the media, repealing the discrimination ban removing children from same-sex households and approving so-called conversion therapy.

The State of Israel is speeding down a path of direct discrimination, and that is our red line. When the first stop is crushing the justice system, the next stops are canceling the right to gay parenthood and allowing discrimination in businesses, just like what happened in Hungary and Poland,” wrote the Aguda and Hoshan in their campaign. “This is exactly the time for everyone to ask themselves where his red line cross ā€” because when the legal revolution leaves the station, it will be very difficult to stop the violation of the rights we fought for years.”

Activists in Israel created this mock train station map to indicate how proposed reforms to Israel’s judiciary could harm LGBTQ and intersex people. (Photo courtesy of George Avni)

Lesbians on motorcycles at the beginning of the Day of Disruption blocked traffic throughout Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv while on their way to Jerusalem. The Israeli “Pride and Ride” Dykes on Bykes movement led the protest. Dykes on Bykes has existed since 1976, and has emerged as a significant part of the country’s LGBTQ and intersex rights movement and as a symbol of female strength and Pride for every lesbian woman.

At the same time in Jerusalem, writer Ilan Scheinfeld arrived at the Western Wall plaza with his two sons who were born by surrogacy and waved a large pride flag in front of the Western Wall.

Israel’s LGBTQ and intersex families have launched a campaign aimed at Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, a proud father of twins, in which they tried to appeal to his heart as a gay person who started a family thanks to Supreme Court rulings, and to explain to him what the consequences of a political revolution might be on gay parenting.

Aguda Chair Hila Peer in the evening spoke at the central demonstration in Tel Aviv.

“They think they will push us back into closets. This government has a clear agenda and the LGBTQ community is one of the first in line. This is not legal reform, it is a gun that is being held to the head of the LGBTQ community. They are destroying the only body that protects human rights, so that later they can enact whatever they want against us,” said Peer. “This government has brought up the worst haters of freedom, of equality and of the LGBTQ community, It gave them power over our families, over our rights. We faced crazier, meaner, more violent and broke every closet they ever dared to try build for us.”

“The year is 2023 and we are going nowhere but forward,” added Peer. “Even if you take the court, even if you threaten us in the streets. Even if you deny us right after right, we will not stop. We will not disappear. The LGBTQ community was born out of a revolution, and the LGBTQ community will bring the next revolution.”

LGBTQ and intersex activists participate in a protest against proposed reforms to Israel’s judiciary. (Photo courtesy of George Avni)

Opposition community representatives also tried to disrupt the Constitution Committee’s proceedings, or at least create actions that would cause them to become illegitimate. MK Yorai Lahav Hertzno from Yesh Atid party during one of the debates came up to the table and began chanting “shame” while pointing an accusing finger at MK Simcha Rotman, who chairs the committee The demonstration caused a lot of criticism and the Knesset’s Ethics Committee punished Hertzno.

Why is the LGBTQ and intersex community afraid?

The absolute majority of the rights of the LGBTQ and intersex community in Israel today came from Supreme Court rulings. From treatments for HIV carriers to surrogacy and parentage registration, all achievements were achieved as a result of battles waged in court against the decisions of the government and the Knesset.

The regime change that includes the weakening of the Supreme Court’s power and allows the Knesset to overrule any Supreme Court ruling with a simple majority allows the cancellation of any Supreme Court decision with relative ease. Although laws against the LGBTQ and intersex community are not currently on the agenda, the potential for change is clear such possibility.

If the legal revolution passes, the government will be able to enact laws that directly harm LGBTQ and intersex people ā€” and without an independent court there will be no one to protect them or the rights we have already received.

Already now, under the auspices of the public atmosphere, there is an increase in the number of reports of cases of discrimination and violence against LGBTQ and intersex people in businesses and in the public sphere. This discrimination would be legal if some extreme MKs succeed in their efforts. LGBTQ-phobic members of Knesset are already spreading their dangerous agenda today and promote bills that will harm LGBTQ and intersex youth and the creation of safe spaces in schools.

The LGBTQ and intersex community and its rights are under attack, and LGBTQ and intersex people will be among the first groups to be harmed when the checks and balances are removed from the government. Silence and complacency are not an option for Israel’s LGBTQ and intersex community.

George Avni is the editor of WDG, an LGBTQ and intersex media outlet in Israel.

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Commentary

On this Transgender Day of Visibility, we canā€™t allow this administration to erase us

All people deserve to have our experiences included in the story of this country

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The transgender Pride flag drawn near the entrance to the Stonewall National Monument in New York on March 13, 2025. The National Park Service has removed transgender-specific references from the Stonewall National Monument's website. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

By KELLAN BAKER | Since 2009, the world has observed Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) each March 31. The importance of ā€˜visibilityā€™ feels especially significant this year, not only as a trans person but for me as a researcher whose career has been centered on equity and inclusion for transgender people. My work over the past 16 years, which has focused on advancing fairness, access, and transparency in health care for gender diverse populations, could not have prepared me for the speed and cruelty at which the Trump administration has worked to literally erase transgender people from public life. Ā 

From banning transgender people from serving openly in the military, blocking access to best practice medical care, and making it all but impossible for us to obtain accurate identification documents that match our gender, the impact of these attacks will be felt for years to come. As a scientist dedicated to fostering the health and wellbeing of diverse communities, I am particularly devastated by the intentional destruction of the federal research infrastructure and statistical systems that are intended to ensure the accurate and comprehensive collection of data on the full diversity of the U.S. population.   

The importance of data cannot be understated. This makes the efforts by the federal government to remove survey questions, erase variables from key data sets, and stifle research even more alarming. By simultaneously removing access to existing datasets, removing gender (and other key measures, such as sexual orientation, race, and disability) from key surveys, terminating federal funding for research projects that include trans people, and censoring research projects at federal data centers, this administrationā€™s goal is to erase the lived experiences of trans people ā€“ with the idea that if we donā€™t exist in data and in research, the federal government can claim that we donā€™t exist at all.  

Just in the past two months, weā€™ve seen a rapid decimation of the inclusion of transgender people in federal research and their visibility in the federal statistical system.  

Data sets that included gender measures have disappeared from federal websites. Critical data sets used by federal and state policymakers, public health staff, and researchers, such as the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), were removed from the CDC website in response to a Trump executive order that made it the policy of the administration to recognize only two sexes, male and female. Although some datasets have been put back up, gender variables have been removed.  

Surveys that had asked about gender identity no longer do. Claiming that the removal of gender identity measures from key national surveys such as the American Housing Survey, Household Pulse Survey, and National Health Interview Survey were ā€œnon-substantial,ā€ the Trump administration has essentially skipped the extensive notice and public comment process that is required to make these types of changesā€”the same process that were used to add gender identity (and sexual orientation) measures.  

In addition, attempts to exclude trans people and other communities facing disparities from surveys will result in a lack of large enough sample sizes to conduct quality data analysis, while reducing any chance of analyzing racial and ethnic differences among trans people. 

Hundreds of grants supporting inclusive research have been terminated. The unprecedented move of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to terminate research grants that include transgender people is just one example of this administrationā€™s rush to eliminate funding from active scientific projects. In many cases, similar agencies are also now required to remove gender identity measures from federally supported surveys. Prominent trans health researchers have watched as their research portfolios are halted, work stopped, staff laid off, and participants left without care. 

At the Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker, for example, we have already had seven studies terminated, with a financial impact that exceeds $3 million. One of these cancelled grants was a multi-year, longitudinal study in partnership with the George Washington University to explore the impact of structural racism and anti-LGBTQ bias on HIV risk among young queer and trans people of color nationwide. The notices of termination for this and other awards clearly spell out the administrationā€™s disdain for groundbreaking research that seeks to understand and address health disparities related to LGBTQ populations, particularly trans people. 

Censoring research. As seen with recent changes implemented by the CDC, the censorship of gender-related terms on federal websites and scientific publications is intended to further the erasure of evidence detailing the disparities faced by LGBTQ people. 

On a day dedicated to honoring the lives and contributions of trans people, the impact that these egregious actions will ultimately have on the health and wellbeing of trans and nonbinary people is chilling. Without access to this knowledge, researchers will not be able to examine the repercussions of the harmful policies put forth by this administration and many states across the country, including bans and restrictions that negatively impact trans peopleā€™s physical and mental health, economic security, and educational outcomes. 

Although there has been an effort by non-government entities to collect and store previously collected data prior to the Trump administrationā€™s purges, state surveys, private research firms, and academics cannot fill the void left by the federal governmentā€™s decision to halt data inclusion. Ensuring that public entities and researchers can continue to use these datasets is only one piece of the puzzle being taken on by groups such as the Data Rescue Project and repositories like Data Lumos. Work also continues thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Trans Survey, the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), and the important research and analysis of both Gallup and The Pew Research Center. Yet, gaps still exist due to threats of federal funding cuts to organizations committed to safeguarding inclusive data assets in the wake of the administrationā€™s continued assault on trans rights.   

This administration suggests that removing one of the only tools available for identifying an entire population of people is a ā€œnon-substantialā€ action. This not only questions the intelligence of the American people but is a direct insult to trans folks everywhere. All people deserve to be counted and to have our experiences included in the story of this country. Transgender people have always been a part of this country, and even if our nationā€™s surveys choose to exclude us, we continue to existā€”authentically, unapologetically, and forever visible.    

Kellan Baker, Ph.D., M.P.H, M.A., is executive director of the Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker.

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LGBTQ autistic people must reclaim narrative about their lives

April is Autistic Acceptance Month

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(Image by Soodowoodo/Bigstock)

It has been 10 years since I started to work on a project that later became ā€œAutistic Initiative for Civil Rights,ā€ the first autistic self-advocacy group in Russia and Ukraine, created by autistic people for autistic people. In a region where most ā€œpsychiatristsā€ couldnā€™t distinguish autism from schizophrenia, and autistic people were considered to be a ā€œchildhood diagnosisā€ by many ā€œexperts,ā€ the idea seemed weird. Especially because I was promoting a neurodiversity paradigm: An idea that the diversity of human brains is normal. The problem of autistic people is not in autism itself, but in discrimination and stereotypes, and being autistic is an even bigger part of me than being trans. Autistic people need support, not a cure.

No wonder that our first allies were LGBTQ organizations, because LGBTQ people knew better than others what it meant when people considered you to be ill and damaged because of their biases.

But there is another reason why the autistic and LGBTQ communities have always been close. There is a connection between being autistic and being LGBTQ.

ā€œPeople who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times as likely to be autistic,ā€ as the largest study committed on this topic showed. Most of the studies show that the rate of LGB people among the autistic community is two to three times higher.

I started to write about it in Russian, creating special websites and social media projects about LGBTQ autistic people, because Russian is the most common language in post-USSR. I hate Russian politics, but I wanted a wider audience.

I translated a lot of great personal stories written by LGBTQ autistic people from English into Russian, and most of the stories I translated were from the U.S..Ā 

For years, autistic communities in different countries used the American autistic community as an example and sometimes even as a role model because so many great disability rights activists and autistic activists came from the U.S. 

For example, as a young teenager whoā€™d just found out that they were autistic, I was deeply inspired by the news that autistic activist Ari Neā€™eman became the first openly autistic presidential nominee in American history after President Barack Obama in 2009 appointed Ari to the National Council on Disability. I read it in times when, in Russian and Ukrainian, almost all information was written in a way that was telling me that I donā€™t have a future. And even this information was mostly translations of some old American big charitiesā€™ texts. It was American, not Ukrainian or Russian activists who questioned those biases. 

For autistic people like me, the American autistic activists, including American LGBTQ activists, were the anchor.

And now, when the autistic community in the U.S. is under attack from the MAGA government, it may have a global impact, harming not just autistic people in the U.S. but autistic people worldwide, and LGBTQ autistic people will suffer the most.

Robert F. Kennedy, the new secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, promoting the idea that autism is caused by vaccines. In Russia, it is a very common stereotype, and many general practitioners believe in it. I used to speak about WHO norms and American and European studies to fight it, and I am sure that many activists in countries with poorer medicine and higher risks of disease that can be prevented by vaccination did the same. But now, when the leading health organization in an extremely influential country is saying that vaccines cause autism, it made people stop vaccinating their kids globally, which will increase the possibility of a new epidemic.

But there is another problem, an even bigger one, from a moral perspective. Kennedy is erasing years of autistic fights to stop making autism look like a health crisis. 

Moreover, on Feb. 13, President Donald Trump issued an executive order stating that the administration would be creating a commission to attempt to lower the population of autism. People like me are called to be part of an ā€œepidemic.ā€

In reality, there is no ā€œepidemicā€ of autism; it is just more specialists who are able to diagnose autism and more people who are ready to search for a diagnosis for them and their children, and autistic people are not a problem for ā€œour [American] economy and our security.ā€

I spoke with Sam Crane, an autistic disability policy expert and a former legal and policy director of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, the organization I used as an example when I was creating my own autistic initiative group:

ā€œCalling autistic people a threat to our country and reopening the discussion about autism and vaccines does nothing to help us,ā€ Crane said. ā€œWe need access to healthcare, community-based supports, education, and civil rights ā€” all of which are under threat under this administration. We also need to support research on actual quality-of-life issues, including research by autistic researchers ourselves ā€” both of which this administration has defunded. This especially hurts autistic people who face other kinds of discrimination, such as autistic people of color and autistic LGBTQ people. People who have filed discrimination complaints about multiple kinds of discrimination have had their investigations halted ā€” forcing them to drop their complaints about race or gender discrimination in order to keep their disability discrimination claims active. People may soon be forced to decide between getting gender-affirming healthcare and getting community-based services for their disability-related needs. We deserve real support, but instead this administration is treating us like a problem to be solved.”

Indeed, the Trump administration treated both autistic and LGBTQ people ā€” especially trans people ā€” as a problem to be solved.

LGBTQ autistic people will suffer one of the first, partly because they have fewer chances to fight LGBTQ-phobia and systemic discrimination. And there is also a risk that LGBTQ groups may not understand why they should fight for their autistic siblings.

It will have a broader impact because of the visibility of American activist communities ā€” both autistic and LGBTQ communities. Stereotypes about autistic LGBTQ people will travel across borders just like autistic self-advocacy spread across the world.

Also, there were USAID programs that helped disabled people and LGBTQ people abroad, and this help now will be stopped. 

MAGA is not just harming autistic LGBTQ people in the USA, itā€™s harming them globally. 

It is April; Autism Awareness Month, promoted by a big charity that was globally demonizing autism, but autistic activists reclaimed April, making it Autistic Acceptance Month.

Now autistic activists, especially autistic LGBTQ activists, need to reclaim the narrative about their lives once again, and the LGBTQ community needs to help them in doing this. This is a fight against the system. Autistic LGBTQ people will always be a part of both the autistic and the LGBTQ community. The question is, would a LGBTQ community help us in this critical moment of our history?

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Commentary

Children of American service members defend Pentagon DEI policies

Students protested Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during Germany visit

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

ā€œAnd a little child shall lead them.ā€ (Isaiah 11:6)

Since the new U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth began his assault on diversity, equality, and inclusion in the U.S. armed forces, hundreds of students at U.S. military schools in Europe and Japan ā€” the children of American servicemembers stationed overseas ā€” have staged walkouts and other demonstrations to protest the new policies.Ā Ā 

When Hegseth visited Stuttgart, Germany ā€” the headquarters of U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command ā€” on Feb. 11, more than 50 students from the Alexander Patch Middle School held the first of these protests when they left their classes and gathered in the schoolā€™s courtyard for an hour-long protest meeting.  

More than a hundred students at the Nile Kinnick High School in Yokosuka, the children of Navy parents and Defense Department employees based at Yokosuka, Japan, the headquarters of the U.S. 7th Fleet, walked out of classes and held a protest in the schoolā€™s courtyard on Feb. 21, chanting and carrying banners.  

ā€œI love this school; I think one of its strengths is its diversity,ā€ said Kinnick High School senior Chase Hassell, president of the student council and leader of the walkout. ā€œI think we have such a great multicultural community, and I think that itā€™s important for the development of all children ā€” not just us ā€” to have experience with different people of different beliefs and backgrounds,ā€ Hassell told Stars and Stripes after the demonstration.

And on March 6, hundreds of students participated in demonstrations at Humphrey High School at Camp Humphreys, South Korea, and at Ramstein High School and Kaiserslautern High School in Ramstein, Germany, and Wiesbaden High Schools in Wiesbaden, Germany, carrying signs that proclaimed ā€œSolidary in Diversity,ā€ ā€œCensorship is Un-American,ā€ ā€œOur Classrooms Are Not Your Ideological Battleground,ā€ ā€œThis Affects People of Color, LGBTQ+, Woman, and Everyone,ā€ and ā€œMore Books, Less Bigots!ā€  

Thereā€™s a great deal of anger around the country about what the Trump administration is saying and doing. But anger is not enough. These students are not just angry, theyā€™re actually doing something to fight back. Maybe we all have something to learn from them.  

Daniel Volman is the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, D.C., and a specialist on U.S. national security policy toward Africa and African security issues.

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