Last weekend, Ilan Peled released a single, for the first time as himself and not as one of his characters, and managed to shake the ground of the gay community. The song, called “Important” was written by Peled himself and is rich in satire and criticism of gay culture. This is a surprising and bold step since Peled himself is one of the symbols of the gay community in Israel, and as a regular guest performer at Ofer Nissim’s parties, he is at the heart of mainstream LGBT culture.
In the song, Ilan Peled talks about the superficial aspects of gay culture, and about self-importance to the point of superiority and egoism. It refers to topics such as the ideal of beauty and body image, the culture of consumption, the culture of drugs and attitudes towards other populations. Peled slaughters sacred cows one by one. A particularly interesting one is the political one that comes right now during an election period: “waves many flags / doesn’t care about minorities / votes for those who are discredited but fasts on Yom Kippur”. This criticism can be attributed to parts of the community who call for equal rights for themselves but choose to support the extreme right, inciting and racist.
It could be expected that this part would cause the biggest storm, but right after it, Peled slaughtered the most sacred cow for the gay community: surrogacy. Peled links surrogacy to consumer culture (“You bought a perfect baby for inst / you chose from abroad from the list / you paid for a bit in Crypt on a boat”) and impresses with his lack of consideration for women (“Who cares about the surrogate”). Every reference to the subject of surrogacy arouses emotions, and it is not difficult to understand why. In the surrogacy equation, on the one hand, there are children, people who are looking to exercise their right to parent, and on the other hand, women and money.
As expected, this time too the gays were indignant and furious at the song that dared to criticize them. Some exaggerated and accused Ilan Peled of “homophobia”, which is more or less equivalent to leftists who are accused of “anti-Semitism”. On the topic of surrogacy, there were those who were shocked that children born from surrogacy would be harmed by the sayings when they grow up. This claim is problematic since it eliminates any legitimacy for discussion on the subject. Surrogacy is a complex issue and it is important to allow a constant open and respectful discussion about it. Each entitled person may choose how to exercise his right to parent in any way that is possible for him, but it is also our duty to raise doubts and questions so that we can improve the procedure or prefer alternative options.
So he was still in character. Ilan Peled (from the music video for Radio Ha’Kaz)
There is tremendous importance in casting doubt and voicing self-criticism within the community. The gay community is strong enough to deal with a variety of opinions and views as well as criticism, and these will make it even stronger. The discussion of the Mi Tu that recently arose in the community also proved the importance of a home inspection and soul-searching, and even more so the importance of an open discussion. The time has come that as a weakened population that fought and is still fighting for its rights, we know how to sympathize with the rights of others: women, Arabs, and trans people who are left behind in the gay struggle. One can agree or disagree with Ilan Peled’s criticism, but it is certainly welcome and symbolizes our strength as a community. In addition, it’s hard not to appreciate the courage of a proud icon with an illustrious career behind him to take a risk and voice opinions that don’t always align with the mainstream.