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ITN Source
ISRAEL: Israeli gay couples register marriage for first time in the country's history after a landmark court ruling
ISRAEL: Israeli gay couples register marriage for first time in the country's history after a landmark court ruling
Same sex couples received full recognition for their marriage status on Sunday (November 26) after Israel's landmark ruling last week which orders the Israeli interior ministry to allow them to register as a married couple for the first time in Israel. Two couples out of the three who filed a petition to Israel's Supreme Court and won, arrived at the interior ministry's offices in the coastal city of Tel Aviv to realize their right to be Israel's first same sex couples with officially registered marital status. Jonathan Herland, who married his companion Ayal Wallrouch a couple of years ago in Toronto, Canada, told Reuters Television about the bureaucratic journey he had to go through in order to be officially recognised by the state of Israel. "We had come here about a year and a half ago and we applied to have our civil status changed from single to married and the ministry refused us. So as you are aware we sued the Israeli government, we went to the supreme court in Jerusalem and last week we won and today we are here to register our marriage," he said before entering the building. Russel Lord, who's been living with Avi Ozeri for the past two and a half decades as a married couple, explained that being recognised by the state of Israel will reflect the reality in which he's been living. "Avi and I next month are together for 25 years. There is no reason why on my 'Te'udat Zehut' (Hebrew for ID) which I am very proud of it shouldn't say 'married', on my identity card, my Israeli identity card it shouldn't say married. We live like a couple, we act like a couple, we have put a house hold together as a couple, and we want all the privileges and to take upon ourselves all the responsibilities as a married couple," he said. Israel's Supreme Court ordered last week the government to recognize same sex marriages performed abroad but efforts by Israel's gay community to win approval for same-sex marriage still face a major obstacle because Israel's religious authorities have a monopoly over marriage and divorce. The historical decision would give same sex couples benefits such as tax breaks and ability to adopt children. Although the two couples filled all related forms and handed them over the interior ministry's cleric, they still didn't receive a new ID with the word 'married' on it. But Lord was optimistic, explaining that they did not receive the new documents due to a computer malfunction. "We don't have the new ID yet because the computer can not take two males and put the 'married' on it so they have to change the computer the program in the computer, it will take a few days and we'll get it, and I'm sure we will," he said with a smile. Earlier this month, a planned Pride parade in Jerusalem set off days of riots in the city's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Protesters took to the streets daily, burning trash cans and confronting police in a bid to cancel the parade or force its relocation to Tel Aviv. But after deliberations, Jerusalem's police allowed some 4,000 people to celebrate in a heavily secured stadium. Ultra Orthodox Jews are likely to oppose this court ruling but for now, at least two happily married gay couples are officially recognized in Israel.
ITN Source | November 26, 2006
