Activities

Supporting parents of, lesbians, gays,, bisexuals, transgenders, and gender-questioners - LGBTQ

Mission & Definition

• TEHILA is a parent to parent organization for parents whose children are members of Israel's LGBTQ community.
• TEHILA promotes equality for all and acceptance of others in Israeli society.
• TEHILA works together with other organizations, both within and outside the LGBTQ community.
• TEHILA is a registered nonprofit run by volunteers, and all activities are conducted by volunteers.

Activities:

Support groups for parents

TEHILA offers support and empowerment groups for parents throughout the country, including special groups for the religious sector and parents of transgenders. Parents who have undergone special training serve as group moderators. Group sessions provide parents of LGBTQ individuals a unique opportunity to meet, ask questions, obtain information, share thoughts, emotions and deliberations, and most important of all: give and receive support; they are not alone.

Support for LGBT youngsters

Parents from TEHILA meet with young members of the LGBTQ community at the community's clubs and centers of activity. At these meetings, young men and women can speak about themselves and look for ways to improve their relationships with their own parents. They get a broad perspective from parental figures who have gone through the similar experiences and who learned to accept their LGBTQ children. Conversations are intimate and discrete, relieving painful feelings, alleviating anxiety and vulnerability, and ultimately helping the young people to communicate with their own parents.

Helpline

A call center staffed by parents from TEHILA, offering support and a sympathetic ear to parents who need assistance after a family member comes out of the closet.

Social activism: promoting (LGBTQ) rights

TEHILA’s volunteers give talks and lectures in many different places, and take part in events of the LGBTQ community and other activities advancing equal rights for LGBTQ people.

How can TEHILA help me?

• At group meetings you will find answers to many troubling questions:
• How can my child be certain about her/his sexual orientation?
• Is her/his behavior considered a sexual perversion? A disease? Can it be changed?
• Will she/he encounter discrimination in the army? In the job market or workplace?
• What can I do for my child?
• How can I help her/him?
• I came out of the closet 15 years ago, and ever since then, my parents have refused to talk about it. What can I do?
• My grandson came out of the closet, and I don't know how to help my daughter – his mother.

Participants talk about group meetings:

"At TEHILA's support group I discovered that I'm not alone. There are other parents like me who are having a hard time because their child has come out of the closet. I began to see my child in a different light."

"I felt that my whole world had collapsed. After meeting other parents in the group I realized that it was not the end of the world…"

"When I saw the other parents I realized that I was also undergoing a process of coming out of the closet. I'm glad that today I can help others understand this…"

"The mother from TEHILA was the first adult I was able to talk to about my hesitations. Thanks to her, my mother started going to one of TEHILA's support groups."

Contact us:

Helpline   09-9955822

Sunday thru Thursday, 7:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Website:  www.tehila.org.il

Email: info@tehila.org.il