Toronto, Israel LGBT orgs to team up

TORONTO — In what may be a watershed moment between Canada’s and Israel’s Jewish lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) communities, Kulanu Toronto and The Aguda – respectively Canada and Israel’s largest Jewish LGBT organizations – are teaming up.

Representatives of the two groups met for a first-ever in-person meeting last week in Toronto to discuss plans for joint efforts on 2012 Pride events, educational exchanges and support programs.

Michael Hamel and Anat Avissar, the chair and foreign policy director of The Aguda respectively, were on a trip through North America to meet with the Jewish LGBT communities in Toronto, Washington, D.C., New York, Denver, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

While here, Aguda members were hosted by the Consulate General of Israel in Toronto.

Justine Apple, executive director of Kulanu, said the prospect of working with The Aguda on cross-national initiatives was exciting. She said one of the groups’ main topics of discussion was the planning of a joint convention in Toronto on May 17, 2012 – the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

While the details are still being ironed out, Apple said, the conference would likely focus on “general women’s issues and not strictly on LGBT issues.”


http://www.cjnews.com/node/88851

'Hamel said The Aguda acts as a beacon for LGBT people all over the region, fielding phone calls and e-mails from Ramallah, Qatar, Tel Aviv, Amman and Lebanon.'