Israel's first gay MP enters parliament

ygalg1 · 01-05-2006, 11:30 AM

Israel's first gay MP enters parliamentIsrael has sworn in its first openly gay member of parliament in a landmark move denounced by the country's far-right parties but welcomed by the gay community.
Despite fears that ultra-Orthodox MPs would disrupt the ceremony, 61-year-old Uzi Even was appointed without incident, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is also said to have congratulated Mr Even on his appointment.

Mr Even, a chemistry professor, will sit in the Knesset for the left-wing Meretz Party, replacing Amnon Rubinstein, who is to retire.

Rights advocate

A former officer in the Israeli army, he caused a sensation in 1993 when he testified to parliament that the army had stripped him of his job and security clearance after they discovered the truth about his sexuality.

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" It's a symbolic act, I'm the one breaking the glass ceiling "
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Israeli MP Uzi Even

His testimony led the Israeli Government, under the late Yitzhak Rabin, to change the country's laws so that homosexuals could serve openly in the army.

In 1995, he also successfully won spousal rights for his partner from Tel Aviv University.

Mr Even has said that he felt his decision to come out had given many others within the gay community the courage to do the same, and has promised to use his position to fight for gay rights.

"It's a symbolic act, I'm the one breaking the glass ceiling," he said.

Growing community

Right-wing Orthodox Israeli MPs, many of whom denounce homosexuality as a sin, had criticised Mr Even's appointment as a disgrace to the Knesset.

But Yair Peretz, from the right-wing Shas party, told the French news agency AFP that he could tolerate Mr Even's appointment as long as he did not use his platform to make gay rights his "banner".

Israel has seen its gay community become increasingly entrenched in mainstream society.

In June, up to 4,000 Israeli gays and lesbians marched through Jerusalem in the city's first gay pride festival.

Homosexuality is not considered a crime in Israel, and a number of courts have even recognised the rights of gay couples.

ygalg1 · 01-05-2006, 11:34 AM

Gays march through JerusalemThousands of Israeli gays and lesbians have marched through Jerusalem for the holy city's first gay pride parade.
There was heavy police protection and fierce opposition from ultra-Orthodox Jews and other right-wingers to the march, which took place a few hours before the start of the Jewish Sabbath.

Orthodox Jewish groups had put up posters condemning the march as blasphemy, saying it would drive holiness out of the city.

Organisers of the parade, which included the Jerusalem Open House, said it was a march against hatred in a city where religious opposition to homosexuality dominates.

One organiser told the crowd: "We did not believe the day would come when this could happen in Jerusalem.

"It wasn't simple, but there are people here for whom this is their first day out of the closet to get out of the dark and into the light."

Estimates of the number of participants ranged from 2,000 to 4,000.

Many were brightly dressed and carrying the rainbow flag of the gay movement in the afternoon sunshine.

Victims remembered

The parade kicked off in central Jerusalem and made its way to Independence Park, where a concert was organised featuring a line-up of prominent gay Israeli singers and entertainers.

But the march also addressed the continuing violence between Israelis and Palestinians and black balloons were released to commemorate the victims of the uprising.

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" We won't let this become Sodom "
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Anti-protest poster

Among the posters, one called for "Free condoms, free Palestine".

Police had prepared for possible disruptions by Palestinian militants and other Israelis who opposed the march.

But only around 50 protesters were seen on the side of the one-kilometre (half-mile) route, holding signs reading: "We won't let this become Sodom," a reference to the Biblical city known for its depravations.

'Perversion'

Before the march, Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor Rabbi Haim Miller, denounced the participants.

"I think they have a problem, they have a perversion, it is a disgrace," he said.

"Before, you would be ashamed of this. A person who had this problem used to hide in the street. Today they want to go out into the city streets and call it 'pride'."

Homosexuality is not considered a crime in Israel, and a number of courts have even recognised the rights of gay couples.

ygalg1 · 01-05-2006, 11:36 AM

a debate at FFI over Judaism view on the topic

mbczion · 01-05-2006, 11:43 AM

I thought he was already in the last Knesset....

Semsem · 01-05-2006, 12:56 PM

LOL why are you posting an article from 2002?????

ygalg1 · 01-05-2006, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by Semsem

LOL why are you posting an article from 2002?????

cause the same issue at FFI led to debate on how Judaism is no better than white nationalist banning blacks and etc and Muslim for banning infidels from mecca (concerning how Jews were oppose for the parade in Jerusalem)

I was wondering how the members here would answer