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Last update - 02:02 05/06/2008 Tel Aviv dedicates first gay municipal community center By Ofri Ilani A mezuzah painted the colors of the gay pride flag was affixed yesterday to the doorpost of the Dov Hoz School building in Tel Aviv. For years, the building housed the elementary school of the Labor party elite. Then it housed a vocational high school. As of yesterday, the old building became home to a new organization, the first such in Tel Aviv: a municipal center for the gay community. "Every person, whoever he may be, was created in the image of God," said Conservative Rabbi David Lazar, as he recited the blessing over the mezuzah. "And therefore this place is not just a house for the community, but a house of God," he said. Advertisement The Tel Aviv gay pride parade, scheduled for tomorrow, will start at the new institution this year. "It's a historic event for the homosexual community. For the first time, the municipality is running an official center that will provide all the services the community needs," said Itai Pinkas, the mayor's adviser on homosexual, lesbian, transgender and bisexual affairs, who initiated the center five years ago. And indeed, 10 years after the first large gay pride parade in Tel Aviv, the community is enjoying an unprecedented embrace from the establishment: There are few cities in the world that run their own center for gays, and in Jerusalem, homosexuals and lesbians are fighting for their right to hold a parade once a year. The new center is already offering activities organized by the Gay Youth Organization. A month ago, it held a preparatory program for those about to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces. In the coming weeks, it will start hosting cultural events, performances and exhibitions of works by homosexual and lesbian artists. In addition, it will also offer a ballet class and activities for elderly community members. "Older members of the community have their own problems and needs," says Pinkas. "They lived underground for years, and revealing their sexual identity entailed very great personal risk. This is one of the groups that this center will serve." Another plan is to run a nursery in the building. "It will not be a homosexual nursery, because there's no such thing," said Pinkas. "But we're looking into the possibility of setting up a nursery here, just like any other nursery. It will not be operated by the center, but by the nature of things, a nursery that operates here will have an atmosphere of openness." "This city attributes great importance to democracy, rationality and culture," says Mayor Ron Huldai at the dedication ceremony. "This house expresses Tel Aviv's spirit of pluralism and the desire to respect every minority." Huldai expressed hope that within a few years, the barriers between homosexuals and lesbians and the other residents of Tel Aviv would be completely gone, and the center would become a regular community center that serves the general population. "We are a breakthrough society and we decided to try and set up such an institution out of a belief that it is necessary. Now the burden of proof is upon the members of the community, and on us." "Young people today have no idea how much it can't be taken for granted that there is such a thing," said the journalist Gal Ochovsky, a panel member on "Kochav Nolad" ("A Star is Born") and the chairman of the executive committee of the Gay Youth Organization. "There is nothing more right than the community having a center. Every three people in this country who set up an organization get a building. Even natives of Serbia have a center, so why shouldn't there be a center for homosexuals and lesbians?" Bookmark to del.icio.us   Terrorist donuts U.S. Arabs irate over criticism of celebrity cook's kaffiyeh. All the way to hell Rosner's blog: It's Obama's good intentions that pro-Israel activists fear.

Read & React Abbas slams Obama for saying Jerusalem to stay Israel's undivided capital Responses: 213 German neo-Nazis: We're pro-Israel and we condemn anti-Semitism Responses: 114 Olmert: We're close to stopping Iran's nuclear program Responses: 83 U.S. Arabs irate over criticism of celebrity cook's kaffiyeh Responses: 81 Israeli killed in Negev mortar strike; Gazan girl dies in IAF attack Responses: 92 More Headlines 01:36 Olmert hints major Gaza operation is imminent 02:50 PM to Bush, Abbas: I'll weather legal storm, stay in office 20:50 Israeli killed in Negev mortar strike; Gazan girl, 4, dies in IAF attack 21:07 Ex-MK Bishara: Israel is 'foreign entity' on a Crusader-like path 23:45 Turkey: U.S. backs mediation bid for Syrian-Israeli peace 22:24 A rabbi, an imam and a priest discuss their 'painful verses' 20:23 Blair: Use lessons of Northern Ireland to solve Mideast conflict 22:20 AG Mazuz: No legal grounds yet for forcing Olmert to resign 01:48 Congress: Pentagon concealed useful Iranian intel from CIA in 2001 00:50 Israel lags behind Sudan, Pakistan in number of women in legislature 20:38 Vandals deface concentration camp memorial near Berlin 02:06 Obama's pro-Israel speech before AIPAC riles Arab press Previous Editions Select Day 05 jun 04 jun 03 jun 02 jun 01 jun 30 may 29 may 28 may 27 may 26 may 25 may 23 may

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