It’s been quite a year for the Arab LGBTQ movement in Israel. On top of COVID-19, protests and political crises, a series of events have pushed LGBTQ issues into the Arab public eye and national discourse. Most recently, a donation made by the Arab-owned Al-Arz Tahini company to Israel’s national LGBTQ association ignited unprecedented backlash both for supporting LGBTQ issues, as well as for not supporting them via an Arab NGO. As supporters rallied around Al-Arz in response, the ongoing controversy is bringing long-suppressed discussion of Arab LGBTQ issues into the open and onto the agendas of Arab leadership.
Hila Peer, Chairwoman of Aguda, Khader Abu Seif, activist and Spokesperson for Jaffa Arabs at the Tel Aviv Municipality featured in the 2015 film Oriented and Ohad Hizki, CEO of Aguda, discuss how this controversy sheds light on Arab LGBTQ realities and opportunities it presents for Jewish-Arab LGBTQ relations and the Arab LGBTQ movement in Israel.