Hardship of Israeli teens takes starring role in special conference

[King_David]

Life for gays outside the major urban metropolises is hard on gay Israeli teens, says Dotan Brom, an Israeli youth active in the gay community in rural Northern Israel.
By Ilan Lior

From an early age Dotan Brom had an image of the ideal man: the macho guy who drives ATVs on the beach, serves in the commandos and sleeps with as many women as possible. That's how it is, he explains, when you grow up in the sticks. Brom, 25, was raised in the Jezreel Valley where, he says, the model for masculinity is very clear. "If you're gay, you're not a real man," he says.

He was in middle school when he realized he was attracted to boys. "At first I wanted to fix myself," he says. Before entering high school he shared his secret with his closest friends. "My best friend told me didn't make sense according to evolution," Brom says. Such reactions kept him in the closet. Brom's parents eventually learned of his sexual orientation from other people. He enlisted in a Nahal unit, and pretended to be straight.



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Gilly Hartal of the gender studies program at Bar-Ilan University presented initial findings from her research on the politics of GLBT shame in the Israeli periphery. "Life in the periphery is characterized by a great deal of concealment," Hartal said. "By moving to Tel Aviv one can break the cycle of secrecy and live a more open life."

Adi Bar David, who grew up in the West Bank, near Hebron, and moved to Tel Aviv a few years ago, agrees. Two years ago she founded an Iggy (Israel Gay Youth Association ) group in Kiryat Shmona. It is the only framework for gay teens north of Afula. There are dozens of such groups In the center of the country, and most of them are funded by local governments. Iggy receives no support from the Kiryat Shmona municipality.


http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/hardship-of-israeli-teens-takes-starring-role-in-special-conference-1.373107