Israel orders gay marriage recognition

[Tock]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061121/...ex_marriages_1

Israel orders gay marriage recognition By STEVE WEIZMAN, Associated Press Writer
Tue Nov 21, 10:37 AM ET

JERUSALEM - In a landmark ruling, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government Tuesday to recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad.

The lone dissenter on the seven-judge panel was an observant Jew, highlighting the controversy the decision immediately touched off among ultra-Orthodox Jews and other conservative groups in Israel.

Efforts by Israel's gay community to win approval for same-sex marriage, a key issue in the U.S. and Europe, face a major obstacle because Israel's religious authorities have a monopoly over marriage and divorce.

Yossi Ben-Ari and Laurent Schuman were married in Canada after that country legalized same-sex marriage in 2003. Determined after a 21-year partnership to enjoy all the privileges of a married couple in Israel, they were among five couples who petitioned the Supreme Court to have their marriage registered here, too.

"We're delighted, but the struggle is not over," Ben-Ari said.

Moshe Negbi, a legal expert, said the court's decision is mostly symbolic because gay couples in Israel already had many of the rights of heterosexual partnerships. The significant changes are that they will now get the same tax breaks as a married couple and be able to adopt children, Negbi said.

Israeli law stipulates a couple must be married to adopt a child.

"The marriages of same-sex couples who marry in places like Canada where the law recognizes such marriages, will also be recognized in Israel, and they will be registered as married here," Negbi said.

Civil marriages cannot be performed in Israel because of the rabbinate's monopoly on family law. But couples married in civil ceremonies abroad have all the rights of a married couple, and their marriages are registered here. The court uses the term "register" instead of "recognition" to avoid religious criticism of the ruling, Negbi said.

"The court says that now, not only heterosexuals, but homosexuals, too, can have civil marriages," Negbi added.

The word game did not pacify the ultra-Orthodox community, which was infuriated by the ruling.

"We don't have a Jewish state here. We have Sodom and Gomorrah here," said Moshe Gafni, an ultra-Orthodox lawmaker.

"I assume that every sane person in the state of Israel, possibly the entire Jewish world, is shocked, because the significance is ... the destruction of the family unit in the state of Israel," Gafni told Israel's Army Radio.

Gafni said he would consider presenting a bill to parliament that would bypass Tuesday's ruling and make recognition of all same-sex marriages illegal.

Animosity toward gays and lesbians is one of the few issues that unites Jews, Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land. They have jointly come out against gay parades in the city, and are all likely to oppose the Supreme Court ruling.

Earlier this month, a planned gay parade in Jerusalem set off days of violence in the city's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Protesters burned trash bins and hurled stones at police, demanding the parade be canceled or moved to secular Tel Aviv.

In the end, Jerusalem's gay community moved the event to a stadium on a university campus in Jerusalem, quelling the threats of violence and allowing 4,000 people to celebrate peacefully.

Last year, an ultra-Orthodox man stabbed and wounded three participants at Jerusalem's gay parade.

Still, many cities in Israel have thriving gay scenes. And the Israeli military, an influential and respected institution, is banned from discriminating against gays. Homosexuals are drafted into the army for mandatory service and are given the opportunity to progress up the ranks.

[Logan13]

How can this be, Israelis are nothing but thugs in the Middle East......... Now you "like" them because they are contemplating gay marriage? This really is all that you are about!
I'll bet that you figured that this would happen in Iran first, didn't you?

[Kärnfysikern]

Has tock ever stated anything negative about israel??

[Tock]

How can this be, Israelis are nothing but thugs in the Middle East......... Now you "like" them because they are contemplating gay marriage?

Like them because of this?
No, I just thought it was interesting, so I posted it. The Israeli government is full of crazy people, and they've done a lot of things I don't agree with. Same is true of the Arabs, too.

Nah, it's just one odd quirk I thought I'd post, that's about it . . .

[Tock]

Has tock ever stated anything negative about israel??

I dunno if it's what you'd consider negative, but I have opined that it was a big mistake for the UN to give that land to the Zionists. And that probably the best way for the Arabs to take it back would be for them to subsidize Arab-Israelis living in Israel, to encourage them to become the largest voting block in the country, and then democratically vote Israel to join with Palestine (or whoever).

Oh ya, I got on them when they drove that bulldozer over the American girl protesting the Israeli practice of them bulldozing down Palestinian houses. That was about a year or so ago . . .

[Logan13]

Like them because of this?
No, I just thought it was interesting, so I posted it. The Israeli government is full of crazy people, and they've done a lot of things I don't agree with. Same is true of the Arabs, too.

Nah, it's just one odd quirk I thought I'd post, that's about it . . .

I must admit, it is shocking that a conservative country like Israel would push for gay marriage. Israel is a pretty diverse country and I believe that they are more open to change than I ever thought that they were.

[Logan13]

Has tock ever stated anything negative about israel??

Are you new to this forum?

[Kärnfysikern]

I must admit, it is shocking that a conservative country like Israel would push for gay marriage. Israel is a pretty diverse country and I believe that they are more open to change than I ever thought that they were.

From talking to rak and hearing her describe Israel it strikes me as a wonderfull and quite open place where the people is fairly liberal.

Im not suprised they ok gay marridge, when you got suicide bombers to worry about I guess what goes on in bedrooms is of less importance

I wonder what would have happened if Einstein had accepted the offer of beeing president in Israel. A devoute pacifist but at the same time zionist running a country threated to be destroyed.

Are you new to this forum?

Well I must have missed the few times tock have entered the israel, palestine discussions somehow Or they have just slipped my mind. I have the memoryspan of a goldfish.