Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in Israel will continue to struggle against discrimination in those areas controlled by religious
authorities, especially in matters of divorce.
GAY AND LESBIAN ISSUES
Despite the presence and infl uence of conservative religious and ethnic minorities, Israel is
a very tolerant society with regard to sexual minorities. There was never a taboo against gays
serving in the military, and the few restrictions that did exist were erased by legislation in the
1990s. Tacit acceptance notwithstanding, for many years homosexuality was not really dis-
cussed, and many gays and lesbians found it diffi cult to come out because of the macho culture
and the emphasis on family. Gay rights began to be part of the national discourse in the 1980s.
The fi rst legal victory came in 1988 with the repeal of a sodomy law. Although religious parties
oppose homosexuality, the Knesset vote was arranged for a time when they would not be pres-
ent, and the repeal passed with little opposition or attention.
Legal and judicial victories for gay rights continued in the early 1990s, with an amendment
to the Equal Workplace Opportunities Law outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation and a Supreme Court ruling that the Israeli airline El Al must offer gay partners of
its employees the same benefi ts it offers spouses. More recently, gay couples who marry abroad
have been permitted to register as married with the Interior Ministry to receive benefi ts. Gay
couples are also permitted to adopt children.
Gay Pride participants mingle with IDF soldiers in Jerusalem's Gay Pride Parade, June 2009. (Getty Images /
Image Bank.)
