The British Embassy in Israel will sponsor a float in the Tel Aviv Pride Parade honoring LGBT families next month. Shaped like a ship waving the Union Jack, the float will transport LGBT families, including the British ambassador, David Quarrey, and his husband.

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The Pride Parade in Tel Aviv will be held for the 19th time on Friday, June 9, and will be the highlight of the events of the city’s LGBT Pride Week. Organizers project that this year will be the largest such event held in the history of the state.

Quarrey (L) and Henriquez (Photo: Nimrod Saunders)

This year, at the initiative of Quarrey, the British Embassy decided to participate in a variety of special events during Pride Week, in cooperation with the Tel Aviv Municipality. Thus was born the idea for a float in the parade, the first such participation of a British diplomatic mission anywhere in the world.

According to the plan, it is expected to be the final float in the parade. Alongside families of all different kinds, of course, will be the British ambassador and his husband, Aldo Henriquez.

A projection of the float

In addition to attending the parade, Quarrey will host at his residence a cocktail reception and lectures by speakers in the LGBT high-tech community in collaboration with LGBTech and Lesbian Who Tech.

“My spouse Aldo and I are excited to take part in the city of Tel Aviv’s Pride Parade this year,” Quarrey said. “Britain is proud to support pluralism, and we believe everyone deserves equality, security and pride.”

(Photo: Jonathan Bloom)

Yaniv Weizman, a member of the Tel Aviv City Council, where he holds the pride portfolio, and the founder of IGY: Israeli Gay Youth, commented that he was “pleased” to hear of the embassy’s participation. “The British float is the first international float in the history of the parade.

“It’s symbolic that in the year that we are celebrating 100 years since the signing of the Balfour Declaration, the British ambassador in Israel declares his deep commitment and cooperation with the world of values that the city of Tel Aviv represents. We will march together with our partners overseas, from Britain and from all over the world, to a more welcoming world, a world of rights and equality for every human being.”

(Translated and edited by J. Herzog)