I’ll admit that I have lived a relatively sheltered life in terms of my experiences with prejudice. Sure, I have encountered the occasional racial slur and during my time working with Garden State Equality as a gay rights activist, I heard many derogatory remarks toward homosexuals. However, my own experience with prejudice could not even begin to compare with that of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people in Jerusalem. They and the employees of Open House for Pride and Tolerance (typically referred to simply as Open House), a center for the LGBT community in Jerusalem, experienced much more than prejudice in recent years. They were forced daily to experience fear—even through death threats—because of their sexuality and who they are. The Jerusalem LGBT community's experience with prejudice is chronicled in the documentary Jerusalem is Proud to Present which is currently screening with the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

The documentary, directed by Israeli documentary filmmaker Nitzan Gilady, is centered on the 2006 World Pride Festival, which was to be held in Jerusalem that year. The event, many believed, would serve as in important milestone for the LGBT community in its effort to gain equal rights and tolerance. But, the months leading up to the event were marred by struggle and controversy, spurred on by religious radicals—even by the police and the government itself.

I had not expected such a fierce opposition to homosexuality in Israel, especially by Jews. I might have expected it in Iran (I clearly remember Mahmoud Ahmadinejad telling the world that there were no homosexuals in his country), but I did not expect this prejudice in Israel. To me, Israel has always been a much more tolerant and accepting country that I was raised to believe was always in the moral “right.” Unlike the surrounding countries, I was told Israel always had human rights interests at heart. I have since learned to question this view. Jerusalem is Proud to Present makes it clear that even in Israel, a country where regular pride parades are held in Tel Aviv, there is still a great deal of homophobia. In fact, the most fervent opposition toward the pride parade in Israel was from religious Jews in Jerusalem who called the parade a “spiritual rape” and said it would “desecrate the city.”

Many aspects of this film really struck me, particularly the stories told by Gilady’s interviewees. One story was told by a Palestinian cross-dresser who performed at Jerusalem’s sole gay bar at the time, the Shushan Pub. Every week until the time he was caught, he performed at the bar, crossing over illegally into Israel from the West Bank. Another interviewee recounted his experience of being stabbed while marching in the previous year’s pride parade. Both of these victims would appear on stage during the World Pride March.

However, aside from these stories, another interesting and perhaps more provocative thread in the documentary was the unity that emerged among those opposed to homosexuality. This is an issue that unites different religious groups. When faced with this new prejudice, they can put aside their old prejudices for each other. One of the movie's opening scenes shows a press conference at which representatives from Islam, Judaism and Christianity were present. They all denounce homosexuality and in doing so, throw their fate together. Subtly and ironically then, this film begins to hint that peace in Israel is a real possibility. Muslim, Jew and Christian can all work together—we simply chose not to. While presenting the message of tolerance of sexuality, the overall message the director hints at is at peace.

Though the film leaves off on a bittersweet note (the march is canceled under the pretext of the situation in Gaza, though a partial march takes part in a closed stadium), it does seem to suggest that peace among all sexualities as well as between Muslim, Jew and Christian is possible. However, to do this, we must put aside religious views so that we can have an open discourse. This film demands it.

For more information about this film or the Out in Israel Film Series from the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, click here.

Emma Stein is a senior who currently attends Newark Academy. She serves as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, in addition to being on the editorial staff of the paper. Emma also works on the editorial board of the Jewish literary magazine Nu. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing and art.