Supreme Court
Approves Same-Sex Marriages
From israeltoday.com
on the Web, January 28, 2007
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| MARRIED MEN: Yossi Ben-Ari (left) and Laurent
Schuman celebrate after the Supreme Court recognized their marriage. |
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Stirring the pot of moral
controversy, Israel’s liberal Supreme Court has ruled that the government must
recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad. Though homosexual marriages
still may not be legally performed in Israel, gay couples will have the same
status in the Ministry of Interior as heterosexual couples married in civil
ceremonies outside of Israel.
The decision sparked outrage. “We don’t have a Jewish state here. We
have Sodom and Gomorrah here,” said Moshe Gafni, an ultra-Orthodox
parliamentarian. “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.”
The ruling pitted the modern Jewish state against ancient Jewish Law.
Effectively, the court ruled that in a democracy, everyone should have equal
rights.
Gay activists and the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) hailed the
decision as a victory. “It’s a very important day for anyone that is
fighting for equality, for liberty, for democracy,” said Yossi Ben-Ari, who was
among five couples petitioning the Supreme Court to have their same-sex marriage
registered. “But the struggle is not over.”
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