As part of my first trip to Israel, I was honored to be among friends who were interviewed by JTA. Below are excerpts.
— Bobby Apperson
Sidelined at Pride celebrations, pro-Israel LGBTQ Jews find breathing room in Tel Aviv
Anti-Israel sentiment in queer communities can feel like “being forced back into the closet,” said the leader of a recent delegation from the United States.
By Deborah Danan – August 29, 2025 5:28 pm – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
For Bobby Apperson, who relocated from San Francisco to New York in search of a larger LGBTQ Jewish community, the trip to Israel was his first. Before leaving, he had watched a social space he had frequented in San Francisco come under repeated attack. Manny’s, a Mission District café owned by civic advocate and queer Zionist Manny Yekutiel, had its windows smashed and graffiti scrawled across the walls. Messages read: “Fuck Manny,” “Zionist Fucks Gentrifyers,” [sic] and “The only good settler is a dead 1.”
“It was all very Kristallnacht,” Apperson said. “It’s not just queers but the progressive movement overall. They think they’re fighting for Palestinians, when actually they’re doing the complete opposite — embracing intifada and global jihad and undermining safety, including for themselves.”
In Israel, he said, the tone was different. “Not one person we met was calling for violence of any kind against Palestinians. Here the queer community is fighting for peace — for the entire queer community, including Palestinians. It’s not splintered.”
“I’ve heard queer people here saying things that sound like what the far-left anti-Zionist movement says in the U.S., like wondering if the military has gone too far,” Apperson said.
In Jerusalem, the group attended the Pride parade, which commemorated 10 years since the murder of 16-year-old marcher Shira Banki. Apperson described the heavy security presence — ostensibly to prevent anti-LGBTQ violence — as jarring.
“It was to protect Jews from other Jews. Even in Jerusalem, you have to choose between your queerness and your Judaism,” he said.
“But it’s an inversion. In America, queer people are looking at all Jews as suspicious — it’s classic antisemitism,” he added. “And here, queer people are being looked at with suspicion by, you could say, the most Zionist people.”
