Withdrawl and Re-Emergence: Back From Israel

It has been over two weeks since I've had time to get on-line and read about the LGBTQ world of north America. I went on an incredible pilgrimage to Israel, with an ear and eye toward seeing what it would be like to live in Jerusalem as a gay man. While there were the occasional winks and nods surreptitiously given among some men on buses and religious sites, there is not an obvious LGBTQ presence in Jerusalem, whether it is the Old City, West Jerusalem, or East Jerusalem. Nor was there a presence in Nazareth per se. While I met one other gay man while singing Broadway show tunes on a cable car descending from Masada (you had to be there), he said that there were a few of "our kind" in the city, but not much. As posted earlier, I know of gay men living in Tel Aviv, but not so much Jerusalem.

As I read towleroad.com, Advocate.com, and 365gay.com, I must say I miss www.mideastpiece.com, which my friend John and his friend managed. I now understand why it was such a break-through in that part of the world. But while there were not a visible community of LGBTQ people, I have no doubt we exist there, as we do in other repressive cities, towns, villages, and burgs.

Pace, B