Israeli Army Celebrates Gay Pride Month

With Tel Aviv's Gay Pride celebration in full swing, the army decided to join in on the fun! The Israel Defense Forces took to Facebook to partake in the celebration, posting a picture of two male soldiers holding hands. The photo, which has gone on to receive over 7,000 'likes' on its page, is linked with the caption, "It's Pride Month. Do you know that the IDF treats all of its soldiers equally? Let's see how many shares you can get for this photo."

The Israeli military has proven to be one of thst most progressive and accepting in the world. Long before the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the United States last year, the country adopted laws in 1993 that prohibited discrimination of gay forces.

The photo has provoked mixed responses thus far, with some people proclaiming it to be strongly anti-Christian and innapropriate. "If Abraham, Issac, and Jacob could see this, I think they would be turning in their graves with shame for them," says Facebook user Bill DeGeorge, one of the over 1,000 commetors to post thus far. However, Fred Maroun seems to capture most people's sentiments best when he says, "A sign of a society determined to accept differences, and a far cry from the homophobia and sexism that prevails elsewhere in the Middle East."