"Don't forget your camera!"

A bunch of us were having lunch with other participants of World Pride. One person at our table mentioned wanting to expore Mea She'arim, an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem northwest of the Old City. They're religious zealots who basically still live in 19th century Poland. It's a highly traditional community. They resemble the Amish, except they'll throw stones. Cars are prohibited from driving through this neighborhood on Shabbat, that's how conservative (and powerful in City Hall) they are.

Mark made some small joke by saying, "Don't forget your camera!" meaning, of course, that photography is strictly out of the question. In fact it would probably cause a confrontation. Oddly enough, someone else at the table, whom I had seen at the World Pride rally, suddenly came to the defense of the Mea She'arim-ites and their archaic way of living.

To me, if that's how they want to live in Mea She'arim, I think it's silly (and I've as much as said so) but what's it to me? Not much, as long as I don't have to join them. But for this gay man to defend the time-warped conservatism of people who hold him and myself in total contempt seems like internalized homophobia.