Last year’s Tel Aviv Gay Pride Parade. An estimated 200,000 people participated in this year’s parade. Photo: Wikipedia

JNS.org – An estimated 200,000 people—including 30,000 tourists—participated in Tel Aviv’s gay pride parade on Friday, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

This year’s parade began at noon with a moment of silence for 16-year-old Shira Banki, who was stabbed to death by a haredi man at Jerusalem’s gay pride parade last year, and for the victims of the 2009 shooting attack at the Bar Noar LGBT youth club in Tel Aviv.

The 2016 Tel Aviv parade, titled “Women for Change,” highlighted women in the LGBT community and their struggle for equal rights. The parade was launched by Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, who urged Israeli lawmakers attending the event to promote legislation to allow marriage and parenting equality, and promised that Tel Aviv will always be a city of tolerance and democracy that respects all minorities.