Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek came out on Tuesday as gay, becoming the highest-ranking General Staff officer to ever do so. Afek openly discussed his sexual orientation for the first time in an interview with the Israel Bar Association's official journal. "It's important for me to be a role model," Afek said in the interview. "When I was a young officer, times were different. I was afraid that this [being gay] would work against me and that I would truly hit a glass ceiling, but I never encountered discrimination, either positive or negative, because of this since beginning my service in the IDF. To my delight, this didn't cause any special interest, and I never felt my sexual orientation was a factor in any judgments about me, which is a good thing." Afek said he hopes his coming out will help young LGBTQ people wary of enlisting in the military. "Many young men and women belonging to the gay community are preparing to enlist in the IDF, or already serve in the military," he said. "Even today, in 2017, we encounter expressions of ignorance and hatred of the other. It's important for me that these young men and women know there's no glass ceiling limiting them in the IDF. Their success depends on them, and them alone. It's possible for every person to reach the very top of the pyramid in his field, according to his abilities. The IDF is an army of the people, embracing anyone who wishes to contribute and advance in it, and I will be happy if many men and women follow in my footsteps." Afek, 47, rose through the ranks of the Military Advocate General Corps, serving as deputy chief of the International Law Department, attorney general to the Israeli Air Force and legal adviser to the Central Command. He was appointed military advocate general in 2015. Meanwhile, the Blue and White Pride organization is launching a new initiative to prepare LGBTQ youths for their military service in the next few months. According to the organization's CEO, Lt. (res.) Omer Nachmani, former officers participating in the initiative will educate and accompany pre-military youths through the enlistment process and throughout their military service. "Members of the community who enlist in the army don't believe that they can have a meaningful service," Nachmani told Israel Hayom Tuesday. He said gay youths do not have role models, because "no one has 'gay' written on his forehead. ... You get to the army and feel you're all alone." "I was 'the gay officer,'" said Nachmani, who served in a combat role in the Artillery Corps. "I had 30 soldiers who came out of the closet to me, which is the reason I founded the Blue and White Pride organization." He said the movement supports gender integration in the military in addition to promoting LGBTQ service. Nachmani said the IDF has no current data on gay soldiers, but "statistically, we are one in 10." Over the past few years, the IDF has begun drafting transgender people as well, he said, adding that the IDF has "fantastic, open and liberal" relations with the LGBTQ community. The IDF conscripts soldiers regardless of religion, race, sex, or sexual orientation. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot has a special adviser on gender affairs who is in contact with LGBTQ community aid groups to ensure soldiers have a meaningful military service.
