ILGA World suspends Israeli advocacy group after bid to host conference withdrawn
ILGA World has suspended an Israeli advocacy group after it withdrew its bid to host its conference in Tel Aviv. The Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ+ Equality in Israel, had bid to host the 2026/2027 ILGA World Conference.
The ILGA World board of directors was to have voted on the proposal at the 2024 ILGA World Conference 2024 that will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from Nov.
11-15. ILGA World on Tuesday announced “the bid to host our next World Conference in Tel Aviv will not go forward, and will not be put to a vote at the upcoming World Conference.” The announcement notes the ILGA World Board “held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to remove the bid from the Aguda from consideration, and it has also decided to suspend the organization from our membership.” The announcement further says the Aguda’s bid “was found in violation of ILGA World’s aims and objectives set out in our constitution (3.1 and 3.2.)” “The ILGA World board is also reviewing the Aguda’s compliance with our constitution and has decided to suspend the organization from our membership to allow for that to happen,” said ILGA World in its announcement.
The decision to suspend the Aguda comes against the backdrop of the war in the Gaza Strip. Hamas militants last Oct. 7 killed roughly 1,200 people, including upwards of 360 partygoers at the Nova Music Festival, when they launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.
