Next Friday, 30/06, the pride parade will be held in Haifa for the 11th time. Thousands are going to arrive and march, from Haifa and beyond.
Those who stand behind the parade are the community activists and the House of Communities with the support of the mayor. This year the parade will highlight what is special about the community in Haifa: it is made up of members of different religions and cultures.
Next Friday at 10:00 am the marchers will gather at the entrance to the Carmelia neighborhood. At 11:30 a march will begin to the Kindergarten and at 13:00 p.m. a pride event will be held, where Evri Lider, Avior Melsa, Anya Bukstein and more will appear.
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"Haifa will be a city where the LGBT community will feel safe to be who they are"
This is what Yossi Shalom, a member of the council from the Yesh Atid party, said to Lahi Fe. This year the emphasis in the pride parade is on solidarity among the entire gay population in the city, on all the different religions, cultures and communities. The community receives a real hug from Mayor Yona Yahav, who planted a huge colorful flag on the city hall. Yesh Atid council member Yossi Shalom, who has been fighting for years to transfer budgeting to the community members, can be satisfied: he recently opened a city-financed community center on Masada Bahadar Street with his help. Shalom: "The risk that a proud youth will try to commit suicide is 4 times greater than that of all youth, and our duty is to reduce this shocking figure."
Yossi Shalom further said that this year's Pride Parade in Haifa came to promote the visibility of the Arab gay communities, of Ethiopian origin and the Commonwealth of Nations, out of a desire to give space to voices that are not usually heard and to raise awareness of the diversity and diversity of the various difficulties alongside the different and diverse cultures. "We see the Haifa parade as a demonstration of unity and solidarity that unites religious and secular, Jews and Arabs, new immigrants and veterans, young and old, and above all will connect the gay communities and the Haifa public. This year's Pride Parade is an event that combines raising awareness of the rights of the LGBT community, a march with a statement Socially significant and one big party for all the supporters of the community and for all the residents of Haifa."
It should be noted that the person who has worked a lot for the benefit of the LGBT community is Yesh Atid council member Yossi Shalom. Shalom fought for the establishment of a house for LGBT people with municipal funding, and indeed a few weeks ago a launch party was held for the community house on Masada Street, financed by Haifa municipality. The center is supposed to serve as a home for all the gay communities in the city. The colorful flags were hung throughout the city and a huge flag was hung on the city hall building on Hasan Shukri Bahadar Street, symbolizing the city's support for the LGBT community.
In past years, community members fought to place themselves in the city's public space. Many of them complained about offensive comments, which were heard towards them all over the city, and also about severe attacks against community members. The pride parade came to say in the clearest way that the members of the community do not intend to stand out less in the public space, on the contrary, they have the same right as anyone else, to bring themselves as they are, and the residents of the city will learn to show tolerance towards them.

"Changing reality for Haifa's gay youth"
"As a Haifa boy from the gay community, the Community House is exactly what the gay youth in the city lacked - a permanent place for us, where we can be exactly who we are and who we want to be, a place that is always full of people who care about us. The Community House is a "safe space" And a supportive and inclusive environment, for all people and especially for us, youth who need unconditional support and acceptance, and all this in addition to a fun, embracing and very experiential space for every boy and girl who comes at any time to the community house." says Gal, a trainee in the young 'Iggy' group at the community center.
The House of Communities in Haifa
The Community House for Pride and Patience is the urban center for the LGBT communities in Haifa and the North. The house provides a response to all gay populations with the aim of promoting a significant and strong proud community. A proud community that belongs to the continuum of communities that make up the Haifa mosaic.
Since it opened in February, the home caters to about 150 adults who visit the home a month and to over 150 teenagers and young adults from the ages of 14 to 23 who take part in the various social groups and activities.
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safe place
In the last year, the activity for the gay youth in the city was expanded. As part of the collaboration with the gay youth organization 'Iggy', which has been operating in the city for many years, we started with two social groups for youth and young adults and added a group for trans youth, where youth from Haifa and the north come to find a safe and enabling place. These days we are about to open "Aluan", a group for Iggy's Arabic-speaking youth, the first of its kind in Israel. Last month we opened "Zafona", Iggy's youth club in the north which functions as a safe space beyond the social groups. The club exists as a complementary activity to the safe space that has existed for many years as part of the Haifa "Pitch".
We have started a process with the Division for Educational Empowerment that includes a study day for the employees of the division and the construction of a joint work system to provide a tailored response to LGBTQ youth. We are promoting training for all educational counselors and the social psychologist system that will take place at the beginning of the coming school year.
Support for parents
In honor of the international day in the fight against homophobia and homophobia, we held an event for parents of LGBT children in collaboration with the Tel Aviv Association - Parents for Parents with Proud Children and together with the director of parents of the education department in the city. An exciting and important event in which the CEO of Tehila told about the process of Accepting her son as homosexual and the importance of supportive parents.
council member Yossi Shalom The holder of the youth file, the young people's file and the gay community file says "in Israel of 2017 there are over half a million youth exposed to harm due to LGBTI, almost every third boy or girl in the community loses friends just because of his sexual orientation and a proud youth is 4 times more at risk of a suicide attempt compared to All youth, 4 times. This is unimaginable, infuriating and painful. It is our responsibility as an authority to change this and create an enabling and inclusive social environment. These are our children, our future generation. It is our duty to instill in him the confidence that everyone has an equal place in society. This is why one of our main lines of action focuses on the education system and the gay youth. I am happy about the open door and the true partnership we found in the education department of the municipality. Haifa should be a city where proud youth will feel safe and comfortable being who they are and as they are. We are happy that the community center team consists of professional education and treatment personnel accompanying this significant process of changing reality for the city's gay youth."
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