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Israel military weekly in trouble over drag story
An article about off-duty soldiers in Israel doubling as drag queens has gotten the Israeli military’s magazine into trouble.
The military said on March 20 that the weekly, Bamahane, must from now on send its articles for approval by chief education officer.
The article interviewed three active duty soldiers who slip into drag after their shifts. It was illustrated by photos, including one of a soldier in military uniform wearing a gas mask and red, over-the-knee boots with see-through high heels.
The military says the army’s chief of the Education and Youth Corps is responsible for overseeing the magazine’s content, but that this has not been enforced.
Bamahane has written before about gays and lesbians in the military.
In 2001, an officer blocked publication of a cover story on Col. Eli Sharon that featured a picture of him holding the rainbow flag under the headline, “This is how I came out of the closet.” The weekly was shut down for a week then.
