Innovation & Impact Israel Grants Spotlight: Aguda

This post is part of a series highlighting our 2022-23 Israel Innovation and Impact grantees. We are proud to share their progress with our community!

Pride in the Living Room is one of Aguda’s most influential projects. It was brought to life after the terrible attacks against the Israeli LGBTQ community, including the deadly shooting at the TLV Gay Youth Center and the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Shira Banki at the Jerusalem Pride parade. As part of this project, in the first week of August on the same day when Banki was murdered, Aguda conducts “Pride in the Living Room” gatherings across the country, bringing together LGBTQ speakers and non-LGBTQ audience members for open discussions about personal life challenges, tolerance, equality, and shared society. The gatherings are held in large liberal Israeli cities and smaller traditional communities in the periphery, including Israeli-Arab communities where LGBTQ people are highly stigmatized and condemned for religious and cultural reasons.