Actor, host and filmmaker Yuval David is planning to attend the Dyke March in New York City on June 28 waving both the Israeli and Pride flags. Some would call it brave; others, stupid and dangerous. However, David, isn’t going to let fear stop him. He’s done this before — and he was attacked, both verbally and physically.
In a phone interview with The Jewish Journal, he said he isn’t going to let anyone push him back into the closet, “not for being LGBTQ and not for being proudly Jewish.” Unfortunately, he added, that many in his community have been forced to make a choice to either be a Zionist and support Israel, or be part of the gay community. There is no in-between.
Many in the LGBTQ community are known to be pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist — so much so that the Dyke March effectively banned Jews from this year’s event by saying they had “banned Zionists.” Given that eight out of 10 Jews identify as Zionists, this means many Jewish participants would need to hide any visible Jewish symbols, including a Star of David or the Israeli flag.
Yuval David, a leading LGBTQ and Jewish activist, has paid a hefty price for his activism. “I have a very supportive family and I’ve learned who my real friends are,” he said. “I’ve lost the vast majority of my friends in the U.S. because they proved themselves to be anti-Israel and anti-Zionist — which, for anybody who understands, means anti-Jewish.”
David, an Emmy award winner, has appeared on shows such as “Days of Our Lives” and “Madam Secretary,” said he no longer receives the same career opportunities he once had.
“I’m called too political or controversial because I stand up for Jewish people, against antisemitism and for the State of Israel. But I also stand up for the U.S. and democracy. We are in a decade — or even more — where people in the public eye are expected to have social and political opinions, and comment about them. How come only after Oct. 7, am I considered too political, even though I’ve been talking about it before?”
As to how the LGBTQ community became so supportive of the pro-Palestinian cause, and as a result, so antagonistic toward Israel, he offers a few explanations. The first, he said, is that the Jewish movement ignored the radical queer community and the progressive, far-left extremists.
They dismissed it as a small movement not worth the time and effort to engage with. As a result, the Islamist movement was free to ingrain itself in the LGBTQ space and win them over, feeding them a false narrative of shared oppression. People in the gay community quickly identified with their messaging and catchy slogans.
“They used these people as useful idiots who will support them without understanding that this actual movement is against them. The placard strategy is: if something rhymes, it must be true and if it sounds like a nursery rhyme, then it’s easy to understand.”
David had been waving the red flag, as he calls it, about the growing anti-Israel and anti-Zionist sentiments within the LGBTQ movement since 2016. He had alerted leaders in both the U.S. and Israel, speaking with organizational heads and anyone willing to listen, but no action was taken. Year after year, he witnessed a dwindling Jewish presence at Pride marches. It wasn’t that Jews weren’t there; they simply chose to hide that part of their identity. For a community that spent decades fighting to come out of the closet, it’s deeply ironic — and disturbing — to force anyone who openly identifies as pro-Israel into the closet. But David isn’t surprised. He’s seen this coming for years.
“I’ve seen many Jews and Jewish organizations who choose not to be involved or attend certain events like the Pride Parade throughout the year because they recognize that they are shunned and aren’t safe,” he said. “I’m also seeing people who say, ‘We have the right to be in these spaces,’ and we face the ramifications of showing up, where chants like ‘Jews Ruin Pride,’ ‘Zionists Go Home,’ are prevalent.”
Then, he said, there are those who reluctantly make the choice to side with their LGBTQ community rather than their Jewish identity in order to fit in with the majority.
“It is very isolating and lonely, but I also learned who my real friends are. There are those who are just as supportive of me now as ever before and others who are more supportive now. It’s a good way to know who your real friends are and who shouldn’t be. This is a very important life lesson.”
“There are those who are just as supportive of me now as ever before and others who are more supportive now. It’s a good way to know who your real friends are and who shouldn’t be. This is a very important life lesson.”
Another positive outcome from this experience, he said, is that his community of friends is now much richer than before. They don’t necessarily share the same political views or opinions, but they respect one another and are able to engage in meaningful conversations. “We share the same values and know we have the right and ability to coexist and debate and have representation,” he said. “That’s what equality is all about.”
David hopes to see many proud Jews join him at the Dyke March in June, but he also knows there might be just a few of them. “I’m afraid but that’s why I’m showing up,” he said. “I’m afraid for the power that they have and I’m afraid for other LGBTQ Jews who aren’t safe. We are at war on a socio-political level and we must step up. Each one of us needs to recognize that we are a soldier of sorts for our people. We can not only rely on the IDF to fight and risk their lives for us. Every one of us needs to engage in the battle, whether it’s on college campuses, outside of Jewish businesses, in schools and on public streets.”
David suggests that one way to amplify the Jewish voice and strengthen the community is by actively supporting allies on social media. “There are coordinated efforts by those who oppose us to target our social media accounts and manipulate algorithms against us,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to empower one another by following and supporting our allies online.”
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