Singer Ivri Lider discusses sexuality, life in Israel with NU students

By Dean Russell

News Correspondent

Popular Israeli singer/songwriter Ivri Lider came to afterHOURS Monday to talk with NU students about his life, career and being an openly gay artist in the Middle East. The event, which promoted equality and acceptance of gays both in Israel and the US, was co-sponsored by Students for Israel at Northeastern (SFIN), the Consulate General of Israel to New England and NU’s Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, and Transgender Alliance (NUBiLaGA).
While in Boston, Lider also preformed at Club Cafe on Columbus Ave. on October 25.
Lider’s visit came at a significant time, following news of several suicides that may have been caused by anti-gay bullying.
“It’s really important [for SFIN] to reach out to people … people who may not normally come to our events,” said Ruthie Wyshogrod, president of SFIN.
Lider is a national superstar in Israel with two platinum albums  and four gold. He also plans to release his first English-language album, Fly/Forget, next year.
Sitting patiently at his keyboard, Lider answered questions for the packed room, ranging all topics like his new album, his mother’s life in the Holocaust, his boyfriend, growing up in Tel Aviv, coming out, living in New York and being in the military. He joked about his MTV European Music nomination against Enrique Iglesias, took song requests in English and Hebrew and spoke about coming out as a gay man after his second album.
“Life in the closet kills you, eventually,” Lider said.
He said he considers himself lucky for the warm reception he received; joking with the crowd, he said the only negative review he remembers was from a website for the gay community, which claimed he was “not gay enough.”
Lider expressed how diverse Israel is, noting that he has gay, straight, religious and secular fans.
“Israel is the only country in the Middle East where someone can be popular, gay and out,” he said. “It’s very forward in that sense.”
Israel provides more legal rights for gay men and women than the US; it has allowed gay people to serve openly in the military since 1993. In the most recent polls by Angus Reid Public Opinion, 61 percent of Israelis believe gay couples should be allowed to marry in civil unions, compared to only 36 percent of Americans. Civil common-law marriages, regardless of gender, have been federally legal in Israel since 1994, and spousal benefits were extended in 1998.
For Wyshogrod and SFIN, the event was one of many opportunities for the group to grow and provide students with a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding the state of Israel, Wyshogrod said, explaining why SFIN wanted to collaborate with NUBiLaGA.
“We’re really trying to just build relationships with as many different groups on campus as we can,” Wyshogrod said.
She said their mission is to be another resource for students coming from any religious, ethnic and sexual background.
“We don’t technically take a political stance,” Wyshogrod said. “We just want the community on campus to understand [and] learn … why its important to defend [and] protect Israel.”
Wyshogrod is from Rehovot, Israel, and said she plans to move back to Tel Aviv after she graduates this year. She and Lider both expressed the challenges of sharing their culture with non-Israelis, both concerning gay rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
“You either need to learn a lot about [Israel] … or live there for a while,” Lider said.