The LGBTQ community in Mitzpe Ramon is preparing for the sixth Pride and Tolerance March, set for Friday, June 26, as the event will close this year’s Pride activities in Israel. In the run-up to the march, community members put up posters around the town inviting residents to join the community procession, only to find that extremists had torn the posters down from the noticeboards.
Michal Romi, one of the march leaders, said the incident came as a reminder that “even in 2026 there are those who still struggle to accept our very presence.” She added that the local fight matters beyond Mitzpe Ramon: “For Mitzpe Ramon, for the liberal voice that is needed today more than ever, we will continue to march and I invite everyone to join us.”
The Pride and Tolerance March in Mitzpe Ramon began six years ago as a local initiative by residents and has since become an integral part of the town’s public and community life. Organizers previously petitioned the High Court of Justice to secure the march route in public space after attempts were made to narrow the approved path, and they won that fight.
The organizers said the broader struggle over LGBTQ rights is also a struggle over Israel’s future, warning that, “If freedom disappears in Mitzpe Ramon, it will not remain in Tel Aviv either.”
