LGBT people versus students advocating "family is father and mother" • The battle at the Technion in Haifa is rising

Gog and Magog war at the Technion

The struggle between young people who advocate the attitude that "a family is just father and mother" and are openly opposed to seeing LGBT shows in the public space or those that are perceived as inappropriate sexual extroversion, escalated this week at the Technion.

Two things ignited the fire: the first is a drag show on the occasion of Pride Month that brought students to the Technion Gate to demonstrate and the second is a post published in which an anonymous girl suggests trying to prevent employment from those who support the group "Choose a Technion Family".

Against a drag show: Externalizing sexuality on campus

On Facebook there is a group of students called "Choosing the Technion Family". Two days ago, the group organized a demonstration against a drag show that was supposed to take place at the Technion. According to the organizers of the demonstration, the drag show is part of an unacceptable externalization of sexuality in the campus space. Dozens of students took part in the demonstration, cheering against a performance by the drag queen, which was supposed to be held as part of Pride Month.

In the last few days, an anonymous post by a girl who works in HR came up. In the post, she wrote that the number of people in Haifa and the north who are responsible for placing engineers in workplaces is not large, and she suggests that anyone who likes the page of 'Choosing a Family' will be prevented from being accepted to relevant workplaces.

There was an angry response to the post on the 'Choosing a Family' website:
"A personal attack on an individual in society is something that cannot be put on the agenda. Certainly when it comes to about 150 individuals on a marked list. This is the record, after difficult months for those who dare to voice a different voice. The journey that began with the hanging of a dedicated faculty member outside the city continued Called a "malignant tumor that must be amputated" by Knesset member Davidson (Yesh Atid), expanding the killing of more individuals in society...

Today it's us, tomorrow it's another team. Where are the gatekeepers? Where are the law enforcers? Letting go of our blood because we dared to respond to the monopoly group that controls the public sphere. Such an amount of hatred cannot be contained, and we call for the condemnation of those of you who, like us, believe that there should be no tolerance for statements of this type, and work to maintain the safety of all students."

"Maybe now you understand how LGBT people feel"

One of the responses to the post stated that those who belong to this group, which wishes to reduce LGBT visibility, may now learn first hand what LGBT people go through during their lives. "Maybe now you'll understand what it's like to be LGBT. This is not such a privileged population as you think. This is a population that suffers a lot of pain, humiliation and lack of inclusion, which leads to very painful places. So today in many places they will already accept LGBT people to work. They will let him feel comfortable. So you try to reduce this safe space. And in response - they do the same to you."

"At home let them do what they want"

One of the students who is studying for a bachelor's degree at the Technion and who belongs to the group, spoke with Chai Pa today and tried to explain what the idea behind the group is. "The idea of ​​a family unit is not something to be underestimated. Success, in my opinion, is that the status quo at the Technion will be maintained, just as right-wing, left-wing, religious, secular, liberal or traditional demonstrations are prohibited, especially without the extremism of politics or controversial issues, it has been maintained that way at the Technion for decades , even demonstrations in favor of the state during a war were not allowed at the Technion, suddenly this dam was breached. The Technion is an institution for acquiring professions that have nothing to do with politics. That's all our group wants, not to harm what LGBT people do inside their homes, that's their business . What interests us is that the public space will remain unchanged, that's why the group exists."

This coming Friday, 24/06/22, there will be a pride parade in Haifa, after previous parades in recent days in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Be'er Sheva. According to the student, of course he does not support the parade, but what really interests him is what is happening in his home, on campus.

"There is no issue here of individual rights, which is a completely different issue, there is an issue here of keeping the public space friendly to everyone. God forbid I do not want to restrict someone's steps in their private space. Pride events are a finger in the eye in my opinion. As for the parade, it is simply not Interesting, let them be healthy and that's it."

According to the student, people misunderstand the purpose of the group and its activities and attribute to it intentions that it does not have. "We are not homophobic, we simply want nothing political at the Technion, as it has been all these years. The public space should remain unchanged, this is very significant for us. What students do behind closed doors, God forbid we don't bother with that."