Middle East
Israel election results could prove disastrous for LGBTQ community
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poised to return to office
WDG, the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel, wrote this article.
Around five million Israelis voted in the elections that took place on Tuesday.
After five election campaigns in three and a half years, as of now it seems that the tie between the two (political) blocs has been broken. Benjamin Netanyahu will once again be prime minister and he will be the one to form the next government.
The results that are slowly coming in are extremely worrying for many Israelis, including members of the LGBTQ community.
The far right Hatzionut Hadatit (Religious Zionist Party), which includes Bezalel Smotrich, the organizer of the infamous Cattle Parade, a parade of cattle that marched at the same time as the Jerusalem Pride Parade, did well. Itamar Ben Gvir, who regularly protests against Pride parades and supports so-called conversion therapy, and Avi Maoz, whose anti-LGBTQ agenda is based on preserving family values, are also members of the party.
The Otzma Yehudit party and Hatzionut Hadatit include new, unfamiliar figures who may turn out to be much more extreme than Smotrich and Ben Gvir in regards to their attitudes towards LGBTQ people, women and other minorities.
Does the LGBTQ community have to worry about the election results?
Even before the formation of the government, it is already clear that LGBTQ representation in the Knesset will decrease. After a Knesset with five openly LGBTQ representatives, the next Knesset will have only three LGBTQ members and they will all be men: Amir Ohana from the Likud party and Yorai Lahav and Idan Roll from Yesh Atid.
Another concern for the LGBTQ community is the fear that Meretz, the first party that supported LGBTQ rights and has historically been the political home for the members of the LGBTQ community, will not earn enough seats to get its representatives into the Knesset, which would give the Netanyahu bloc a crushing victory.
The achievements achieved by the LGBTQ community in the previous Knesset may also be in danger.
The LGBTQ community over the past year has managed to achieve a number of significant achievements that include the repeal of the ban on gay men from donating blood, the approval of surrogacy for male couples, reforms of the Committee for Gender Reassignment, the promotion of activities for LGBTQ Arabs and a budget of 90 million NIS ($24,460,991) for local authorities all over the country to carrying out activities for the benefit of the LGBTQ community.
Due to the complexity of the previous government that was made up of different parties from all ends of the political spectrum — from Naftali Bennett on the right to Meretz and Ra’am on the left — all of these achievements did not come through legislation, but through regulations that various ministers implemented. This fact may be to the community’s detriment, because new government ministers could just as easily reverse them.
The far-right’s goal of reforming the justice system could also hurt LGBTQ achievements, some of which resulted from Supreme Court decisions. The legislation of the Override Clause will give the Knesset the authority to re-enact a law that the High Court has invalidated, thereby overruling Supreme Court decisions.
Poll indicates most LGBTQ Israelis fear right-wing government
In a study the Israeli Institute for Gender and LGBTQ Research at the Aguda conducted before the election, 87 percent of LGBTQ Israelis said that they fear the next Knesset will violate their rights. This fear is not only from the lack of promotion of pro-LGBTQ legislation, but also from the promotion of regulations and laws that will actively harm LGBTQ organizations.
If the right-wing government fulfills its promises, it would remove the LGBTQ education organization Hoshen from schools, end financial support for Israel Gay Youth, ban hormone treatments for transgender people and provide financial support for organizations that offer conversion therapy. And as we have learned during all the years of the LGBTQ struggle, when public figures incite against members of the community, this affects the public and the verbal cancellation turns into discrimination of LGBTQ people in businesses, bullying in schools against LGBTQ students and physical assaults in the street.
How LGBTQphobic will the next government be?
The results of the elections in Israel are the will of the Israeli voter. The people of Israel gave a significant power to parties that seek to harm the rights of the LGBTQ community, but these parties were not necessarily elected due to being anti-LGBTQ.
The fact that Ben Gvir and Smotrich and their parties received significant support is not necessarily about LGBTQ issues, but it is mainly based on the state of internal security in Israel. Violence and crime in large areas of the country that have become no man’s land, the internal terrorism that culminated in riots in Arab Jewish cities in May 2021, and the disappointment of many from the right-wing parties that entered the last government together with an Arab party caused many voters, some of them LGBTQ, to vote for extreme right-wing parties.
Another parameter that helped Ben Gvir and Smotrich in the election is the timing.
They entered an election system in which there is no other right-wing party except Likud. All the right-wing leaders (Avigdor Lieberman, Bennett and Gideon Sa’ar) moved towards the center-left and new, more extreme right-wing leaders who previously failed to enter the Knesset filled the vacuum.
The people of Israel are patiently waiting to see what the results will be and how the map of the blocks will look. We still won’t know which government will be formed, even after the final results are announced. Netanyahu will receive the mandate from the president and will begin the task of forming the government, which history has already taught us is impossible to predict how it will end. Israeli politics is unpredictable and full of surprises, and any possibility we didn’t think about can become a reality.
It is likely that in the first phase Netanyahu will choose to form a narrow right-wing government with his natural ultra-orthodox and Religious Zionist partners. In this case, Netanyahu will depend on extremist Zionist elements, such as Smotrich and Ben Gvir, and even Maoz, each of whom has the power to topple the government.
The question is whether those parties will use their power to harm LGBTQ achievements and even enact anti-LGBTQ laws, and if so, how will the more liberal Likud members, LGBTQ members and their supporters, will react to these proposals, and whether both parties will be willing to endanger the right-wing government on this subject?
Later, difficulties at home, including excessive demands of the extreme parties, or international pressure from the outside, may cause Netanyahu to strive to expand the government, and perhaps even to replace the extreme elements with more moderate centrist elements such as Benny Gantz. Such a government would be less anti-LGBTQ, but even here the chance of promoting LGBTQ issues is almost non existent, and it is likely that there will be no progress with what will remain. No anti-LGBTQ laws will be promoted either.
Two points to consider
The first one is how the new Knesset members who proudly declared themselves to be LGBTQphobic will sit in a coalition and cooperated with Ohana, a gay MP and a father for two children who he had via surrogate.
The second one is how will Netanyahu and the secular Likud members deal with the extreme demands of the religious parties, which range from the closing of places of entertainment on Shabbat, the termination of women’s service in the IDF, and the application of Torah laws to the judicial system.
“Just as the outgoing government protected the rights of all citizens of the country, the incoming government is also expected to do the same.,” outgoing Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, a member of the LGBTQ community who will not enter the next Knesset, said. “If Smotrich or Ben Gvir think they will harm women’s rights, LGBTQ or Arabs, a large and strong front will stand in front of them and will prevent this from them.”
Will the opposition to this new government will be strong and determine enough to stop these scenarios from happening?
Only time will tell.
Iran
Underground queer network challenges Iranian regime
Homosexuality remains punishable by death in country
While global powers negotiate with Iran’s regime under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to curb its advancing nuclear program, the oppressed LGBTQ community is building and operating a secret underground network to resist state-coerced sex reassignment surgeries.
These surgeries, mandated for gay and lesbian people as a state-sanctioned alternative to execution for homosexuality, are part of Iran’s penal code that criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations. The network provides safe houses, forged identification documents, and covert communication channels to protect members from government raids and imprisonment.
Precise data on LGBTQ people prosecuted in Iran for resisting state-coerced sex reassignment surgeries over the past decade remains elusive, as the regime’s opaque judicial system obscures such cases under vague charges like “corruption on earth” or “sodomy.” NGOs, including 6Rang, report that thousands of gay and lesbian Iranians face pressure to undergo surgeries to avoid execution for same-sex conduct, with resistance often leading to arrests or harassment for violating gender norms.
Zahra Seddiqi Hamedani and Elham Choubdar, two prominent activists, in 2022 were sentenced to death for their social media advocacy, charged with “corruption” and “human trafficking,” though their convictions were overturned in 2023. Similarly, Rezvaneh Mohammadi in 2019 received a five-year sentence for promoting “homosexual relations,” a charge hinting at resistance to the regime’s heteronormative mandates.
Arsham Parsi in 2003 escalated his clandestine fight for Iran’s LGBTQ community by launching Voice Celebration, a secret Yahoo chat group where 50 queer Iranians, using aliases, exchanged coded messages to evade the regime’s surveillance. Operating like operatives in a shadow network, participants shared text messages about human rights and survival tactics, knowing a single breach could lead to torture or execution. Parsi, then 23, orchestrated the group’s encrypted communications, building a virtual lifeline that connected isolated individuals across the country until his cover was nearly blown, forcing a desperate escape in early 2005.
Parsi in an exchange with the Washington Blade revealed a defiant undercurrent in Iran, a movement too elusive to be called traditional resistance yet pulsing with covert rebellion against the regime.
The state’s relentless push to force gay men into coerced surgeries — marketed as a “solution” to their sexuality — seeks to erase their identities through enforced conformity. Parsi, steering the International Railroad for Queer Refugees, disclosed how queer Iranians fight back with clandestine measures: Underground education to counter state propaganda, discreet psychological support to fortify resilience, and encrypted networks to forge secret alliances. These efforts, veiled to evade regime detection, dismantle the state’s narrative with every hidden signal and guarded connection.
“We are working to create a true grassroots resistance by empowering people to understand their identity, seek safe alternatives, and reclaim their agency despite the oppressive context,” said Parsi. “The Iranian regime’s policies are built on denial of sexual orientation and a forced alignment with a binary gender model.”
“Rather than recognizing gay, lesbian, or bisexual individuals, the system pressures them — particularly gay men — to undergo irreversible surgeries in order to be legally tolerated,” he added. “This systemic violence creates deep psychological harm and compels many to resist, even quietly, to protect their truth. The lack of legal recognition and the threat of arrest, harassment, or blackmail fuels the underground defiance we see today. It’s not only resistance for survival — it’s a rejection of state-imposed identity suppression.”
IRQR, guided by Parsi, for nearly two decades has operated as a lifeline, orchestrating daring escapes and running a covert network for Iran’s hunted queer community.
Parsi said his work relies on secret, encrypted channels — meticulously managed to avoid detection — to funnel at-risk individuals to safety, smuggle life-saving information, secure hidden safe houses, and deliver emotional support. Every operation faces threats not only from the regime’s security forces but also from Basij militia operatives who masquerade as queer individuals to infiltrate networks, heightening the peril for those marked by their identities.
Black-clad Basij militia members respond at the first signs of defiance; tearing through crowds on motorcycles with batons and guns at the ready, poised to crush any challenge to Iran’s regime. These paramilitary volunteers, bound by fierce loyalty to the Islamic Republic, serve as the state’s enforcers, their plainclothes operatives slipping into dissident networks to root out the defiant.
The Basij fill queer Iranians with dread; their so-called morality patrols and digital traps stalking those who dare to exist outside the regime’s rigid norms.
“Their goal is not only to gather intelligence but to undermine, divide, and cancel the work of activists and organizations like ours,” said Parsi. “This divide-and-conquer strategy is designed to break solidarity and generate mistrust.”
“We have seen numerous cases where trusted circles were compromised by these informants, and it has made our work — and survival — even more complex,” he further noted. “Despite this, we persist. Through our underground connections, we have helped thousands of queer Iranians seek safety, community, and ultimately, freedom.”
Parsi told the Blade that international support — through funding, advocacy, policy pressure, or amplifying his stories — can significantly strengthen his work to protect Iran’s persecuted queer community. He emphasized IRQR operates with limited resources, making global solidarity essential to improve outreach, enhance safety measures, and respond swiftly to those in need. Parsi underscored such support brings visibility to the crisis in Iran, reminding those at risk they are not forgotten while exerting pressure on a regime that thrives on silence and fear.
One of the things that Parsi’s underground network offers is online workshops that educate queer Iranians about how they can remain beyond the regime’s reach.
He said these sessions, designed for safety and accessibility, encompass peer support, mental health education, digital security training, and guidance on refugee pathways. Parsi explained the workshops give vulnerable Iranians the tools to navigate persecution, defy state surveillance, and pursue escape, exposing the resilience of a community under relentless scrutiny.
“Due to the high risk of persecution in Iran, traditional protests are not feasible,” said Parsi. “Instead, acts of resistance take quieter forms — like anonymous storytelling which are just as powerful in building awareness and connection within the community. While discreet, these activities help create a sense of solidarity and empowerment among queer Iranians.”
Parsi, undeterred by Iran’s unyielding regime, asserted with measured confidence that while underground acts of defiance — living authentically, supporting one another, resisting forced medicalisation — may not shift policy overnight, they are already improving lives. He stressed these quiet rebellions that queer Iranians stage challenge the regime’s narrative of shame and invisibility, forging a resilient foundation for future change. Each act, Parsi emphasized, dismantles the regime’s grip, offering hope to those navigating a landscape of relentless oppression.
“At IRQR, we view each life saved, each network built, and each truth spoken as a small but powerful act of resistance,” said Parsi. “These are the seeds of future liberation. Over time, as they multiply and gain visibility — locally and internationally — they will help reshape the landscape for queer Iranians.”
ILGA Asia Executive Director Henry Koh said queer Iranians’ underground resistance is a powerful assertion of bodily autonomy and self-determination. He described it as a deeply courageous act in a regime where visibility invites immense personal risk, from arrest to execution.
When asked by the Blade if the Iranian regime’s punitive measures against openly queer people fuel underground resistance, Koh responded unequivocally.
“Absolutely,” he said. “The climate of criminalization and repression leaves little safe space for queer people to live openly. This forces many into secrecy or underground networks as a means of survival, resistance, and mutual support. Such conditions are not only unjust but also profoundly harmful to the well-being of LGBTIQ+ individuals.”
“It is important to distinguish between affirming gender-affirming care and any form of coercive medical intervention,” he added. “When states or authorities mandate medical procedures as a condition for recognition or safety, it constitutes a grave violation of human rights. Gender identity is deeply personal, and no institution should override an individual’s self-defined identity.”
Israel
ILGA World reinstates Israeli LGBTQ rights group
The Aguda was suspended from global organization in October 2024
ILGA World has announced it will reinstate an Israeli LGBTQ rights group.
The global advocacy group’s board last fall voted unanimously to suspend the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, after it withdrew its bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. ILGA World in a May 1 statement said the Aguda’s reinstatement will take effect on Oct. 27, 2025, a year after the suspension began.
“The decision, made by a majority vote, follows an investigation by ILGA World’s Disputes Resolution Committee, composed of elected board members,” reads the statement. “The committee assessed the complaints it received on whether the Aguda aligned with ILGA World’s constitutional principles.”
The statement notes that while the complaint against the Aguda “was deemed substantive — particularly due to the Aguda’s reluctance to condemn war crimes plausibly amounting to genocide in Gaza, the committee acknowledged that ‘the Aguda actively continues to provide support to LGBTI communities.'”
“The ILGA World board took into account that requiring member organizations to take a public stance on their government positions and actions, and holding them accountable for not doing so, would create a precedent that could be harmful to our membership in many countries,” it adds.
The statement further notes the ILGA World board’s decision “is not an endorsement of the Aguda’s position, actions, or silence on the war in Gaza.”
The decision to suspend the Aguda took place less than a month after Israel marked the first anniversary of Oct. 7.
Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 people at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed tens of thousands of people in the enclave since Oct. 7. Fifty-nine hostages who were kidnapped in Israel on that day remain in the Gaza Strip.
Aguda CEO Yael Sinai Biblesh stated:
“ILGA’s decision to reinstate the Aguda is an important step that recognizes our longstanding contribution to advancing LGBTQ+ rights in Israel,” said Aguda CEO Yael Sinai Biblesh in a statement her organization sent to the Washington Blade on Monday. “However, we regret that the suspension was not lifted immediately and instead extended until October.”
“We chose to fight for our voice in spaces where the discourse is difficult and complex, because we believe that’s exactly where our presence is most needed — to enable nuanced and respectful conversations and discussions,” she added. “The Aguda will continue to collaborate with organizations around the world in order to defend the rights of all people under the LGBTQ+ umbrella across all sectors in Israel — both Arab and Jewish, even in the most challenging times.”
ILGA Asia on Monday issued a statement in which it said it disagrees with the decision to reinstate the Aguda.
“While we acknowledge the decision of the ILGA World board, we note that the motion to lift the suspension was not adopted unanimously,” said the ILGA Asia Executive Board. “Following consultations with the ILGA Asia Executive Board, our representatives on the ILGA World board did not support the motion. Our decision was guided by deep conscience, regional accountability, and unyielding commitment to justice, dignity, and solidarity.”
ILGA Asia made the following points.
• We fully recognize the process undertaken by ILGA World’s Disputes Resolution Committee. However, we believe that the following factors were not adequately addressed:
• The significant harm and internal division caused by the Aguda’s 2024 bid to host the World Conference in Israel, at a time of escalating genocide and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza
• The lack of a public stance from The Aguda on war crimes and human rights violations in Gaza, which we view as inconsistent with the universality of human rights espoused by ILGA
• The presence of content glorifying militarism on their public platforms raises concerns about alignment with ILGA’s principles of peace and nonviolence
• And the unresolved harm and trauma experienced by many within the ILGA family — particularly Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim members — warranted a longer and more restorative process before reinstatement.
“We acknowledge that the majority of the ILGA World Board justified the decision on the grounds that civil society organizations should not be automatically held accountable for the actions of their governments,” reads the statement. “While this argument holds relevance in many repressive contexts, we respectfully diverge from this rationale in this case, where silence amid atrocity has direct and harmful consequences.”
The ILGA Asia Executive Board’s full statement can be found here.
Israel
ILGA World suspends Israeli advocacy group after bid to host conference withdrawn
Decision has prompted praise, criticism
ILGA World has suspended an Israeli advocacy group after it withdrew its bid to host its conference in Tel Aviv.
The Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, had bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference. The ILGA World board of directors was to have voted on the proposal at the 2024 ILGA World Conference 2024 that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from Nov. 11-15.
ILGA World on Tuesday announced “the bid to host our next World Conference in Tel Aviv will not go forward, and will not be put to a vote at the upcoming World Conference.” The announcement notes the ILGA World Board “held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from the Aguda from consideration, and it has also decided to suspend the organization from our membership.”
The announcement further says the Aguda’s bid “was found in violation of ILGA World’s aims and objectives set out in our constitution (3.1 and 3.2.)”
“The ILGA World board is also reviewing the Aguda’s compliance with our constitution and has decided to suspend the organization from our membership to allow for that to happen,” said ILGA World in its announcement.
The decision to suspend the Aguda comes against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas militants last Oct. 7 killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel. The Israeli government says the militants also kidnapped more than 200 people.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed more than 41,000 people in the enclave since Oct. 7.
A case that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice in the Hague late last year accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The International Criminal Court, which is also in the Hague, in May announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel. (A suspected Israeli airstrike on July 31 killed Haniyah while he was in the Iranian capital of Tehran to attend Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Israeli soldiers on Oct. 16 killed Sinwar in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that borders Egypt.)
“We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities,” said ILGA World in its statement. “Our apology goes to our members, to our host organizations, and our global communities — and especially to those in South Africa, who will soon host the global movement for our upcoming World Conference.”
“We recognize the historical experience with apartheid and colonialism in South Africa: Even the possibility of voting on such a bid in their home country would have been at odds with the unequivocal solidarity for the Palestinian people,” it adds.
ILGA World also said it supports calls for “stronger governance practices in vetting the proposals we receive.”
“We heard our communities, and we must do better in the future: A situation like this must not repeat,” it said.
The Aguda in a statement said it is “deeply disappointment that ILGA has chosen to boycott those who work for LGBTQ+ rights and strive towards a more just society.”
“For 50 years, the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, has worked to support the LGBTQ+ community and uphold human rights for all, including supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in the Arab community, and Palestinian asylum seekers persecuted for their sexual and gender identities,” reads the statement. “The Israeli LGBTQ+ identity embraces both service and contribution to the state as citizens, while continuing to fight for the values of democracy and human rights in the society in which we live.”
The Aguda added Israel’s LGBTQ community “should not bear responsibility for government policy, and we expect the international community to support liberal voices rather than boycott them.”
“We are proud to be LGBTQ+ and Israeli, and we will continue to fight for a more equal and safer society,” said the Aguda.
ILGA World Executive Director Julia Ehrt on Wednesday told the Washington Blade in an emailed statement the organization “has communicated in writing with the Aguda.”
“So far, we have not heard from them other than on social media, but of course they have a right to defend their membership status according to our governance procedures,” said Ehrt.
Groups ‘complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled’
Charbel Maydaa, the founder and general director of MOSAIC, a Lebanon-based advocacy group that works throughout the Middle East and North Africa, is also the co-chair of ILGA Asia. He is among the activists who welcomed ILGA World’s decision to withdraw the Aguda’s bid.
A thread in response to a post on Maydaa’s LinkedIn page notes ILGA World in 1987 expelled the Gay Association of South Africa after it “refused to condemn apartheid” in the country “or to get involved in political struggles.”
“GASA’s stance led to its dissolution, and the formation of new and more progressive LGBT rights groups in South Africa,” said Gabriel Hoosain Khan, a London-based activist. “Organizations that are complicit in Israeli apartheid or genocide should be expelled.”
The International Planned Parenthood Federation also welcomed ILGA World’s decision. A Wider Bridge, a group that “advocates for justice, counters LGBTQphobia, and fights antisemitism, and other forms of hatred,” described it as “outrageous and unacceptable.”
ILGA (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) supposedly stands for respect for human rights, equality and freedom regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or sex characteristics,” said A Wider Bridge in a statement. “But by singling out Israel and Israeli LGBTQ people for opprobrium, ILGA violates its fundamental principles.”
The 2022 ILGA World Conference took place in Long Beach, Calif.
“I am appalled and disgusted that ILGA World would ostracize and expel the leading organization in Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people there,” said California Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, who is the former executive director of Equality California, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, on X. “This is appalling and blatant anti-Semitism and an abandonment of LGBTQ+ Israelis.”
Shame on @ILGAWORLD. As the former leader of @eqca, CA’s LGBTQ civil rights org, I am appalled and disgusted that @ilgaworld would ostracize and expel the leading org in #Israel that fights for the civil rights of LGBTQ+ ppl there. This is appalling and blatant antisemitism and… https://t.co/6zrU1WQQ7J
— Rick Chavez Zbur (@RickChavezZbur) October 30, 2024
Ehrt in her statement to the Blade acknowledged criticisms over ILGA World’s decision. She also dismissed suggestions that anti-Semitism prompted it.
“ILGA World has a long and proven record of fighting for equality for all,” said Ehrt. “We have repeatedly called for peace in the region, and continue to work every day to counter racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, and anti-Semitism — alongside LGBTI-phobia. Our daily work speaks much louder than the baseless accusations we are receiving.”
Let love and compassion guide our response to Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis
D.C. Black Pride 2025: Events, parties, and empowerment
Cuban lawmakers to consider simplifying process for trans people to change IDs
Frank Kameny’s legacy lives on
