GRSJ224LGBTINISRAEL
Being LGBT in Israel
Israel provides many legal rights for the LGBT community, that are advanced for a country in the conservative Middle East. This page will explore what being LGBT in the Israel is like, looking at the institutions and communities that specialize their experiences. Despite the legal rights being country wide, geography and religion can affect the lived experiences of the LGBT community differently.
Introduction
Israel is the most tolerant country in the Middle East in regards to LGBT rights and existence, both socially and legally. Israel provides majority of the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples, notably, other than the right to marry within the state. Israel has a specifically large and prosperous LGBT community in Tel Aviv, where organizations and community have paved the way for LGBT existence and pride. The legal rights persist throughout the country, however the social acceptance varies throughout depending on the level and type of religious activity and beliefs, such as in Jerusalem.
LGBT Rights and Regulation
Same-Sex Couples
Beginning in the 1990’s Israel underwent reform in regard to LGBT rights. Homosexuality was decriminalized and the existence of same-sex couples acknowledged. Cohabitation Law allows Same-Sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, applying the laws of common law marriage. Same-Sex couples cannot legally get married as marriage is controlled by the orthodox. However, in the state but their marriages are sanctioned when performed in other countries. Same-Sex couples are also able to adopt. More recently, both lesbian and gay individuals are able to donate blood without restriction on their sexual activity. It is illegal to discriminate against the LGBT community in the workforce as well as the military. Same-Sex couples are eligible to receive all benefits of their partners job that are received by heterosexuals. [1] However, in summer 2018 a law was passed only state-funded surrogacy for single women, denying it for single-men and gay couples. Lesbian women maintain their right to surrogacy as they are still considered "single women"[2]
The Israeli Defense Force
It is currently illegal to discriminate against anyone in the LGBT community within the IDF when it comes to treatment, opportunity, promotion and placement. However, in 1983 the regulation, Manpower Division Standing Order K31-11-01, "Service of Homosexuals in the IDF", allowing any sexual orientation to be a part of the IDF, other than in intelligence as their mental strength and maturity would need to be determined fit first. This rule was abolished after a trial in 1993 where Uzi Even had his security clearance revoked due to his sexual orientation. Since then, the Manpower Division Standing Order K31-11-01, was adapted allowing homosexual individuals to participate as anyone else can, with no discrimination[3].
The IDF does separate men and women in their service type and time, with women being required to serve two years and men with a three-year requirement, this line may be blurred in the case of transgender individuals and is determined case by case. In 2013, a transgender woman was granted placement in a female unit for the first time.[1]
Geographical Difference in Social Acceptance
Tel Aviv: Gay Pride
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Tel Aviv is viewed as ‘the most gay-friendly city’ in the world. Tel Aviv is known as a homonational space, meaning there is a positive association between the ideology and the LGBT people’s rights[4]. The municipality is tightly bound with the LGBT movement and is heavily involved in the planning of events such as the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, which drew out 250,000 attendees in 2018. Many of the city’s politicians gained their start in the LGBT grassroots movements, giving the community an advantage within the city[5]. Gay men specifically have a high representation in politics and in acceptance, while the acknowledgement is still developing for the LGT community. Tel Aviv's pride both socially and politically in the LGBT community is at times criticized as "pinkwashing", which is a theory that the Israeli government strongly supports LGBT rights in a way to secure their spot as humane and "western" in comparison to their neighbors[6].
Watch Tel Aviv Pride Parade 2018 Promo [1]
Watch Tel Aviv Pride Parade 2018 [2]
Jerusalem: Religion and LGBT
Jerusalem is a religious hub for four major religious groups, Judaism, Islam, Christianity and Armenians. Depending on the orthodoxy of each religion, homosexuality is not allowed. Therefore it’s strong religious affiliations from the four quarters create an objection to the LGBT movement and difficulty in being outwardly gay, despite having the same legal rights. The Koran says that men having sex with men is a punishable crime, in Judaism being homosexual is okay, but if the sexual act is carried out it is forbidden, Christianity sees homosexuality as wrong. These strong religious beliefs against homosexuality cause a space of conflict in Jerusalem. There is still some public programming for the LGBT community but it stands more for protection than celebration, as is in Tel Aviv. An organization, the Jerusalem Open House acts as a safe space and voice for the LGBT community in Jerusalem. Safety is the top concern for the LGBT people of Jerusalem and the JOH[5]. In 2008, after Islamic, Christian and Jewish leaders met to unite against the JOH’s planned pride parade, violence and protest followed. The JOH made a pact with the leaders to allow small scale Pride Celebrations, which still gain some protest but it has diminished[7]. In 2015 however, a 16 year old girl was stabbed to death by an ultra-Orthodox extremist Jew during Jerusalem's Pride parade[8]. Graffiti can be seen by the site of her death in summer 2008 on the JOH stating a bible verse "“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: It is abomination,”[8]. This shows the influence of religion over the safety and acceptance of the LGBT community of Jerusalem, which can apply to other religious cities and well as neighborhoods that are more traditional and not open to the actions that in their eyes are not sanctioned.
Graffiti on Jerusalem Open House [3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dotan, Yoav (Jan 2015). "The Boundaries of Social Transformation through Litigation: Women's and LGBT Rights in Israel, 1970–2010". Israel Law Review. 48: 3–38.
- ↑ Baier, Rocky (July 22, 2018). "DEMONSTRATORS FLOOD THE STREETS DEMANDING EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GAYS". The Jerusalem Post.
- ↑ Belkin, Aaron (Summer 2001). "Homosexuality and the Israel defense forces: Did lifting the gay ban undermine military performance?". Armed Forces and Society. 27: 541–565.
- ↑ Hartal, Gilly (Sep 2017). "Re-Reading Homonationalism: An Israeli Spatial Perspective". Journal of Homosexuality: 1391–1414.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hartal, Gilly (June 2017). "Fragile subjectivities: constructing queer safe spaces". Social and Cultural Geography. 19: 1053–1072.
- ↑ Ritchie, Jason (June 2015). "Pinkwashing, Homonationalism, and Israel–Palestine: The Conceits of Queer Theory and the Politics of the Ordinary". Antipode. 47: 616–634.
- ↑ Hartal, Gilly (Feb 2016). "The politics of holding: home and LGBT visibility in contested Jerusalem". Gender, Place and Culture. Volume 23: 1193–1206.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Staff, Toi (July 25, 2018). "Anti-gay graffiti found near site of teenager's murder at 2015 pride parade". The Times of Israel.