Global LGBT advocacy group, ILGA, will reverse its suspension of The Augda, Israel's LGBT Equality association, effective October 2025, one year after imposing a ban on the association's membership, ILGA said in a statement.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Intersex Association (ILGA) halted The Aguda's membership in October 2024, in order to investigate its compliance with ILGA's constitutional principles, in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
The decision, made by a majority vote, comes after the ILGA's Complaints Committee held a hearing earlier this year.
While the complaint against The Aguda was deemed "substantive," largely due to the association's reluctance to condemn Israel's actions in Gaza, ILGA acknowledged that The Aguda "continues to provide support for LGBTI communities," and that "requiring member organisations to take a public stance on their government positions and actions, and holding them accountable for not doing so, would create a precedent that could be harmful to our membership in many countries."
The Aguda will be reinstated in October 2025, ILGA said, with the year-long suspension intended "to be recognition of the harm done by The Aguda’s actions and to encourage them to reflect on their position and ways of engaging in global contexts to prevent harm in the future," the statement said.
“The decision was taken to ensure we fully uphold universal respect for human rights, equal representation, and the elimination of barriers to participation for all members – including in our conferences,” the ILGA said at the time.
Antisemitic double standard
The Aguda, which has been openly critical of the Israeli government, responded to the suspension, “the IGLA is free to take issue with the policies of the Israeli government or any other, but it should address those concerns to that government, not by shunning and excommunicating that country’s queer community.”
“ILGA’s actions reflect an appalling and clearly antisemetic double standard," the association wrote in a post on X/ Twitter.
ILGA removes world conference from Tel Aviv
Following its suspension of The Aguda in October, ILGA also announced that it would no longer be considering holding it’s world conference in Tel Aviv, in a statement on Tuesday. The organization wrote, “We know that seeing the Tel Aviv bid taken into consideration caused anger and harm to our communities.”
ILGA has been active in over 150 countries for 46 years.