The Women’s Gathering was born out of a personal need for queer women’s community in Jerusalem.
By ARIEL DOMINIQUE HENDELMANThe writer (left) with Women’s Gathering founder Sarah Weil(photo credit: WOMEN’S GATHERING)
Jerusalem is not known for its queer culture; that accolade has been bestowed upon Tel Aviv. But thanks to Sarah Weil, founder of the Women’s Gathering, there have been monthly parties since 2011 for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women and allies at different venues around Jerusalem.For Weil, the Women’s Gathering was born out of a personal need for queer women’s community.“There was no intention of creating an organization or regular events,” Weil says.“The first event that we had, I invited a few people, but I didn’t expect over 50 people to show up. This was November 2011 and it was really cold and rainy. We were sitting outside on concrete cement blocks in an alley at Uganda bar, which is no longer in existence. We were all kind of looking around at each other amazed that there were so many queer women in Jerusalem. The women who came were from various backgrounds. I realized then that the need was not just mine; it was the need of a lot of others, too.”Weil had another event a few weeks later, and more people came. At that point, the Women’s Gathering developed into regular, monthly or bimonthly events. People were talking about it all over Israel. Events drew women from Tel Aviv and Modi’in.Despite all the buzz, the Women’s Gathering had no funding and was never an official organization. It was completely dependent upon volunteer work and Weil’s blood, sweat, and chutzpah.“We hopped each time from one place to the next, and each time we opened up that space, declaring it as gay friendly,” Weil adds. “This is a place where you can go, be out, and be you. It was a subtle form of real activism through culture, in a way that was friendly and integrative.We never shut down a venue and that was deliberate, with the goal of making sure we were not closing ourselves off into a ghetto or into an LGBT-only space.”Amazingly, every venue Weil approached was open to hosting. Some were worried initially about how it might affect their business, but in the end they agreed. At the Women’s Gathering’s peak, local businesses were even approaching her. Past locations include Bubba Coffee House (now closed), Tmol Shilshom and Cafe Nocturno. Weil is also proud to point out that as more women came out and got connected, many relationships started. Weil herself met her partner at a past event.“As the community grew and more women were getting involved, they wanted to be more active, and other initiatives started, which gave me a great sense of satisfaction,” she says.“Women approached me and asked me to help them with their ideas. I had the resources in the sense of experience and tools to help them launch their projects. We supported other organizations in their infancy like the gay students organization. We did more partnerships with Bat Kol, Havruta, and the Jerusalem Open House. I think from the Women’s Gathering, queer culture started to blossom here in Jerusalem.”At the same time, many of the Women’s Gathering veterans were getting older, having children, and moving out of Jerusalem. A new crowd of students and younger women began to replace them, but due to the fact that there was no formal funding, and nothing perpetuating the organization except the need on the ground, the Women’s Gathering died out after last year’s Hanukka party.“The fact that I wasn’t able to find funding was a big problem,” Weil says. “At a certain point, I realized that I couldn’t continue to pull money out of my own pocket. It was my donation to the queer community, but I couldn’t continue to do it. I had to figure out a sustainable situation. So a combination of all of those things led to a decline.”In the past year since the last Women’s Gathering, there has been a growing need for a relaunch. A renaissance is happening in Jerusalem, both within queer activism and the community itself.“I think Jerusalem’s LGBT community is in a different place than it was five years ago, especially after the murder of Shira Banki [at the 2015 Gay Pride parade],” Weil says.“Cer tainly my understanding of what it means to be an LGBT activist has changed. I see visibility in the public sphere as a must and I see the Women’s Gathering as a tool for bringing that activism through culture. What has been occupying most of my time for the past year has been the face-to-face dialogues in Zion Square [also known as the Meeting Place]. I went from being a cultural activist to being a political one. The Women’s Gathering is integrating what it used to be with what it’s going to be, which is bringing LGBT events into the public sphere on a regular basis.Once a year during the pride march is not enough.”The Women’s Gathering is a tangible facet of Jerusalem’s queer renaissance. It is fitting then, that the Hanukka relaunch party was scheduled to take place on December 28 at Burrito Chai in Mahaneh Yehuda, which has also undergone a recent renewal. The new Women’s Gathering is much like the old one, except that now at every event, there will be a pride flag displayed prominently.For Weil, it’s an important showing of presence in the public sphere.“Destigmatizing the flag is really important,” Weil adds.“We’re afraid to identify openly because we don’t want to be labeled, minimized or branded, and the flag does that. This is a way of destigmatizing the flag, so that eventually we won’t need it. That’s the goal. I really truly hope that we will achieve full integration into Israeli and Jewish society, so that we won’t have the need to fight for our right to exist in the public sphere.”She cites an important iron in the fire to see the resurgence of the Women’s Gathering, as her work with a new initiative, Shabbat Shelach, which strengthens queer community around the Shabbat table. “For me, it was a reorienting of the community around Shabbat; around something that is intimate and meaningful.It’s future-oriented. Helping to build that initiative and seeing more and more people in the community wanting to take part and host meals, reinvigorated me.”The Women’s Gathering will continue to host monthly events at venues around Jerusalem on the second Wednesday of every month.“We were honored to host the Women’s Gathering relaunch,” Missy Witt, owner of Burrito Chai, says.“People are really excited and have missed it. It was also during Hanukka, so we’re spreading the light. In terms of putting up the pride flag, it’s really important for people who may be struggling, or finding themselves, to know that there are others like them out there and to see that support. We were honored to display the flag and show that we’re a safe space.”For more information: www.facebook.com/wgjlm/
Related TagsGay Israeljerusalem gay pride
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store