To recognize the various achievements benefitting the LGBTQ+ community in 2021, the Tel Aviv Municipal LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold an "Equality for All" event on Friday.
As part of the ceremony, in partnership with Magen David Adom, members of the community will be able to donate blood, following the lifting of the ban on blood donations from gay men earlier this year.
The Municipal Center also noted that same-sex couples will be able to register as cohabitating partners within the municipality, a first in Israel and the Middle East.
The event will also feature leading drag performers, a DJ and performances by Israeli stars Zehava Ben, Chen Aharoni, Rona Kenan and Riki Ben Ari.
Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council member Itai Pinkas, in charge of the LGBTQ+ community and center portfolios said he is looking forward to donating blood at the event.
"A proud minister of health eliminating a longstanding discrimination between kinds of blood, the passing of the new surrogacy law by the supreme court, the opening of registration as cohabitating partners with over a million Israeli's that live in localities that now allow it, progress on parenting for same-sex couples, and of course a government that has our best interest at heart," he said.
Director of the LGBTQ+ Center Ruby Magen added that the center and their work throughout the year symbolizes the commitment the municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo has towards the LGBTQ+ community and towards equal rights for all citizens.
"2021 is an exciting year due to the basic rights we have finally received and the multi-million New Israeli Shekels funding going towards the new Gan Me'ir LGBTQ+ center. I invite everyone to come and join the festivities, marking the future - an equal and just Israeli society," Magen said.