LGBTQ-PHOBIA - STATUS REPORT - IN ISRAEL #9

The percentage of referrals outside central Israel is about 51%. As one may understand, LGBTQ discrimination is scattered throughout the country and despite the widespread thought that Tel Aviv and the central region constitute a safe place for LGBTQ people, the data presented here reflects a different reality in which LGBTQ discrimination is experienced everywhere. In 2020, COVID-19 moved the LGBTQ discrimination close to home due lockdowns. About 25% of all referrals reported in 2020 were close to home, while this year it seems that the area closest to home is only about 3% of all referrals. A significant increase in LGBTQ discrimination cases outside the central region had to do with a continuous sequence of inquiries and reports received at the Nir Katz reporting Center during the summer months around the Pride Parades. For example, this year, during the June Pride Parades across the country, the number of reports received was 67% higher than the total average referrals to the Nir Katz reporting Center received throughout the months of 2021. The data also showed that about 68% of reported incidents were directed at the whole LGBTQ community; That is, not towards a specific person but as a de-legitimization towards the whole community (for example, cases such as the removal of pride flags and the destruction of "gay" properties). Although the classification is towards the entire LGBTQ community, the experience of burglary, intrusion into private properties, trespassing, damage to properties, and undermining the sense of security - damages, and scars individuals. Among the cases reported and dealt with by us during Pride month: the vandalism of Pride flags which hung on behalf of the municipality; Discrimination in renting apartments, spray-painting slurs inciting murder; Throwing stones at balconies decorated with pride flags; Opening WhatsApp groups calling to hurt LGBTQ residents; Shattering the windshield of a mayor's car after declaring that he intends to support pride events in his city and on the other hand a mayor who declares that he does not recognize the LGBTQ flag and therefore is not willing to address his LGBTQ residents as a community, or even responding to this topic. This year, for the first time, a call for proposal was issued by the Ministry of Social Equality - a precedent-setting call to local authorities which are encouraged, from a budgetary point of view, to introduce LGBTQ programs into their cities and towns. The call was answered by 63 local authorities who agreed to take a substantial part in improving the lives of their LGBTQ residents and put forward city plans in their favour. In addition, the Aguda’s local community development project and the local authorities’ index examine and measure dozens of authorities in a wide geographical scale in various fields (such as education and culture) in terms of their treatment towards residents. These projects unequivocally influence the allocation of more resources towards the local LGBTQ community, as well as the improvement of the attitude received from the authority and the positioning of the community as central and significant in the fabric of life. Community coping LGBTQ Discrimination Incidents Over the Internet Key arenas for 2021 "I'm a 56-year-old lesbian. I've been getting comments on Facebook from a cruel woman who has a few usernames on this platform and abuses me through them. She curses me and threatens to take me out of the closet in front of my children and grandchildren. I am asking for your help." / C. from southern Israel. Responses such as these, are received by members of the community on a daily basis throughout the year. This year, in the face of COVID-19 that forced us to stay home in front of screens and also due to further elections, that led to campaigns of slander and hatred against us, the LGBTQ community was exposed to thousands of cases of LGBTQ discrimination on social media that included swearing, verbal violence, threats of physical violence, death threats during Pride parades and growing trans-phobia.