Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Israeli SSM, After the Fact

In an amazing, surprise victory, Israel's high court ruled that Canadian same-sex marriages are legal there.

Haaretz reports that the six-to-one decision of the High Court of Justice allows five married gay couples from Toronto to register their status in Israel.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel argued for the couples that they had a right to equality and family life. Also, the lawyers said that the Interior Ministry's refusal to register them was based on "homophobe social perceptions."

The government used the same inane arguments that have worked in many places in this country. Its lawyers even tried the no-framework-to-recognize-them canard.

As if to prove the plaintiffs' arugment:
The minister in charge over religious affairs, Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) said "the High Court has sunken in the gates of defilement and has torn out the last mezuzah from its doors. Marriage can only be held by the faith of Moses and Yisrael [the traditional Jewish marriage vows].

"The dam that protected the Jewish state has been burst open under the auspices of the High Court, asking for an anti-Jewish deluge clad in black capes," he said.

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

Over at NYU Law, Leonard Link blog promises follow-up when available.

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1 comment:

Ryan said...

The only question is will there be rioting in the streets of Jerusalem the bigots - I mean religious conservatives - or did they all get that out of their system when they forced their gay pride into an enclosed prison - I mean stadium.

If this isn't a "who gets the last laugh now" situation, I don't know what is.