The LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning) community is warmly embraced by the city of Tel Aviv. This phenomenon is exemplified by the fact that the Tel Aviv City Hall has been taking a leading part in the organization, financing, and promotion of Pride parades and events in recent years. The present article analyzes a quantitative survey of overseas participants in the 2016 Pride events in Tel Aviv. It explores the motivations, attitudes, satisfaction, and behaviors of tourists, both LGBTQ+ and non- LGBTQ+. The results show that Tel Aviv is perceived as gay friendly by all participants, regardless of their affiliation with the LGBTQ+ community. We discuss the advantages of being a gay-friendly city via high visibility and social inclusion. Finally, we address ‘pinkwashing’, an umbrella term employed to describe the efforts by Israeli authorities to promote a positive image of Israel despite its questioned geopolitical reputation.
AMIT KAMA is a Senior Lecturer at Yezreel Valley Academic College. His research focuses on minority groups—gay men and lesbians, people with disabilities, migrant workers, and immigrants—and the construction of their identities vis-à-vis mediated representations. His works include numerous papers as well as five books. The latest, co-edited with Sigal Barak-Brandes, is Feminist Interrogations of Women's Head Hair: Crown of Glory and Shame (2018). E-mail: amit8860@yahoo.com
YAEL RAM is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Tourism Studies at Ashkelon Academic College. Her research interests focus on person-environment relations. She studies sustainable (and unsustainable) consumer behaviors and mobilities, cultural ecosystem services, responsible tourism, gender issues, and place-driven emotions. She has co-authored Tourism, Public Transport and Sustainable Mobility (2017), and co-edited The Routledge International Handbook of Walking (2017). E-mail: yaelram@gmail.com