Life for gays the Israeli ary jt got easier - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• LIFE FOR GAYS THE ISRAELI ARY JT GOT EASIER
• ISRAELI ARY ACCED OF STAGG GAY PRI PHOTO
• RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
• INFORMAL SERVICE: IN THE ISRAELI ARY, GAYS SERVE OPENLY, WOMEN N LET THEIR HAIR DOWN AND EVERYONE IS ON A FIRST-NAME BASIS
• ISRAEL A MOL ON GAYS THE ARY
• YOSSI AND JAGGER: ISRAELI TALE OF GAYS THE MILARY (LBTQ, GAY, ISRAEL)
• ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH
• JEWISH GAYS WRECK AMERIN CULTURE
• IDF GAY SOLDIERS
• GAYS THE ISRAELI MILARY
• ARMY’S ‘GAY SOLDIERS’ PHOTO WAS STAGED, IS MISLEADG
• GAY INTY, SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS, AND MILARY SERVICE

LIFE FOR GAYS THE ISRAELI ARY JT GOT EASIER

In the 1967 and 1973 wars he was assigned as an telligence officer wh bat uns Sai and on the Golan, after a secury check 10 years ago turned up that he was livg wh another man, he cid he would no longer hi his homosexualy. Conscripts are not asked about sexual orientatn, and people who are openly gay are not dmmed out of the service bee of as Profsor Even's experience suggts, the Israeli Army may be somethg ls than the mol of tolerance and openns supposed by some who ce Israel's example advotg an end to the ban on homosexuals the ary the Uned cince, at the same time that the Uned Stat has been enmhed the issue, Israel has recently been engagg a rare and ocsnally tense public bate on attus toward homosexualy s army. Prsure to Hi HomosexualyAlthough homosexuals serve wh everyone else the ary Israel, many Israeli homosexuals say that realy they feel prsur to hi their orientatn, both active service and the rerve duty that most men perform for a month or two each year until the age of 51.

Dpe the fact that gay Israelis are nscripted, for example, those soldiers who are found to be homosexuals, or who clare that fact openly, are required to unrgo psychologil ttg and secury checks, an ditn that the Army still regards them wh distst and ncern that their orientatn might reflect emotnal requirement of secury checks appears also to reflect ncern about blackmail for those who have kept their homosexualy to themselv.

ISRAELI ARY ACCED OF STAGG GAY PRI PHOTO

"But may take more than le-book chang to purge anti-gay attus om the ary, given the gree to which reflects the larger impact of this matter was ma clear by a recent parliamentary hearg that Profsor Even addrsed: While was unr way, lawmakers om Orthodox Jewish parti refed even to enter the Parliament Mister Yzhak Rab, a former Army chief of staff, says he se no reason for anti-gay discrimatn, and he promis an quiry to see if Profsor Even should be returned to his former far, the profsor has not heard back. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.

RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN

It was revealed Febary that one transgenr officer, who joed the army as a woman, unrwent a genr transformatn while new policy by the ary to acmodate same-sex upl the rerv pped a week of events and discsns the untry ahead of an annual gay pri para — a megaparty that took place Friday Tel Aviv, attractg some 100, 000 revelers om Israel and around the year’s theme put the spotlight on supportg the transgenr muny; many were buoyed by former Olympic athlete Bce Jenner’s transformatn to Calyn. Surrogacy is rtricted Israel to fertile heterosexual upl, so same-sex male upl mt look elsewhere to untri that acmodate Michaeli-Molian, one of the fathers strand Nepal, told The Washgton Post at the time that although Israel is liberal when to gays, havg a fay is another issue.

INFORMAL SERVICE: IN THE ISRAELI ARY, GAYS SERVE OPENLY, WOMEN N LET THEIR HAIR DOWN AND EVERYONE IS ON A FIRST-NAME BASIS

The Israeli ary has been acced of stagg a photograph published to celebrate s progrsive attu to image, of two male soldiers holdg hands while walkg down a street uniform, was posted on the Israel Defence Forc' Facebook page to ci wh gay pri events Tel ptn read: "It's pri month. "By noon on Wednday had been "liked" almost 10, 000 tim and had attracted more than 1, 400 the Tim of Israel news webse claimed the photograph was misleadg, sayg: "The two soldiers the photo are not a uple, only one of the two is gay, and both the soldiers serve the IDF spokperson's office. There are an timated 65, 000 gay and lbian service personnel the US ban on gay and lbian people servg the Brish ary was lifted Israeli activists have acced their ernment of "pkwashg" – prentg Israel as enlightened bee of s gay-iendly attus while nyg human rights to Paltians.

Image source, Emma RileyImage ptn, Rad operator Emma Riley was discharged om the Navy for beg a lbian the 1990sRishi Sunak has apologised for the historil treatment of LGBT veterans who were sacked or forced out of the ary for beg PM lled the ban an "appallg failure" of the Brish was illegal to be gay the Brish ary until 2000 - wh thoands of veterans thought to be affected. Acrdg to the report, the Mistry of Defence said at the time that jtifitn for the policy clud "matenance of operatnal effectivens and efficiency" - but the report said there had been an "prehensible policy of homophobic bigotry" the armed forc. It heard shockg acunts of homophobia, bullyg, blackmail, sexual asslts, "disgraceful" medil examatns, and nversn mak 49 remendatns to the ernment cludg:Affected veterans to be given an "appropriate fancial reward" pped at £50m overallThe rtoratn of medals that had to be hand back on dismissal or dischargeThe clarifitn of pensn rights The prentatn of a special veterans' badgeThe ernment said would rpond full after summer of the veterans affected watched the PM's public of them, Emma Riley, 51, was a Royal Navy rad operator for three years before she was arrted and discharged for beg a lbian after tellg a lleague her sexualy the early told BBC News she weled the report, and hoped would be put to place "swiftly.

"Olympian Dame Kelly Holm, who served the army and me out as gay last year, lled the publitn of the report a "historic moment", while Cathere Dixon, a former army officer who is now vice chair at Stonewall, said was "an important step towards jtice" for those whose ary reers were "ed" bee of their sexualy. Many still have a crimal rerd to this also tails how some veterans faced a plete loss of e, while others were emed eligible to claim their pensn bee of their report more than 20 years after four servicemen and women, who were sacked for beg gay, won a se the European Court of Human Rights and overturned the armed forc chary Royal Brish Legn lled on the ernment to accept the report's remendatns chary's director general Charl Byrne weled both the report and Mr Sunak's "landmark apology", sayg many people who had dited their liv to the untry were "forced or felt prsured to leave the armed forc, and this mistreatment stroyed or shortened their reer". Instead, chang the valu and polics of Israeli society over the past twenty years or so created the space which a gay and lbian muny uld first gay anizatn was tablished 1975, thanks largely to the work of immigrants om the Uned Stat and other English-speakg untri fluenced by the velopment of gay liberatn and the unterculture of the 1960s.

ISRAEL A MOL ON GAYS THE ARY

The very name of this first anizatn, the Society for the Protectn of Personal Rights (then, as today, known as the Agudah, Hebrew), reflected the difficulty of anizg sexual mori at a time when the existence of a sodomy law was thought by many to make homosexualy self illegal.

YOSSI AND JAGGER: ISRAELI TALE OF GAYS THE MILARY (LBTQ, GAY, ISRAEL)

But for many years, Israeli lbians funneled most of their energi to femism, rather than the stggle for gay and lbian velopment of a gay inty was difficult for many at a time when Israeli society was still the midst of s Znist revolutn. Pleadg more prsg issu, the public agenda did not clu the place of mizrahim (Jews who immigrated to Israel om the Arab untri) a society domated by European-born Jews, women’s liberatn, equaly for Paltian cizens of Israel, or gay rights. The certati of Znism gave way to a multu of polil and cultural inti: ultra-orthodox Judaism, growg assertn of a Paltian inty among Israel’s Arab cizens, natnalism, and yearngs for a more Wtern, liberal society peted for the allegiance of, gay inty and polics still did not go public.

By 1992, lbian and gay activists had succeed gettg the Knset to amend Israel’s Equal Workplace Opportuni Law to outlaw discrimatn on the basis of sexual 1993, the Israeli ary rcd s few regulatns discrimatg agast gays and lbians. And 1994, the Israeli Supreme Court orred El Al Israel Airl to grant a ee plane ticket to the partner of a gay flight attendant, as the airle had long done for heterosexual partners of then, there has been steady progrs, pecially the urts.

ISRAEL IS THE GAYT UNTRY ON EARTH

Chief among them was the fact that gay activists pursued a very mastream strategy, seekg to nvce the wir public that gay Israelis were good patrtic cizens who jt happened to be attracted to the same strategy, pursued until recently, rerced the perceptn that gay rights was a non-partisan issue, unnnected to the major fissure Israeli polics, the Arab-Israeli nflict and how to rolve . Prevly, the Israeli gay movement had shunned transgenred people, fearg what their cln would do to s public image, but wh Dana receivg ngratulatory telegrams om the Prime Mister and beg ma an honorary ambassador by the Knset, was now “safe” for the movement to expand s November of that year, Michal En won a seat the Tel Aviv Cy Council, beg Israel’s first openly lbian elected official.

The Israeli LGBT movement has not embraced femism ( fact, sexism and tensns between gay men and lbians are both que prevalent), and until recently, the place of gay Arabs the muny was neglected, reflectg the wir society’s difference to Israel’s Arab mory (some 20 percent of Israel’s populatn). Agast the backdrop of clash between Israel and the Paltian Authory, the 2001 Tel Aviv’s Pri Para, typilly a celebratory, hedonistic affair, got a dose of polics when a ntgent lled “Gays Black” marched wh a banner proclaimg, “There’s No Pri In Occupatn.

JEWISH GAYS WRECK AMERIN CULTURE

” A group lled “Kvisa Sh’hora” (Dirty Lndry) also spng up, lkg the opprsn of sexual mori to what se as the Israeli opprsn of the PriThe holdg of World Pri Jesalem Augt 2006 highlights the succs and challeng of Israel’s gay and lbian muny. The succs are many: 1) the growth of viable muni outsi of Tel Aviv, symbolized by the Jesalem muny’s hostg of World Pri, an ternatnal gay pri event; ntued legal succs, pecially wh rpect to uple’s rights; and broad cultural visibily. But before the para had to be ncelled bee of regnal tensns, was shapg up as a stggle between Israel’s relig tablishment and the gay and lbian Jesalem municipaly and a verable alliance of relig lears uned only their opposn to homosexualy were termed to thwart the holdg of the para.

Even many secular Israelis normally supportive of the Israeli GLBT muny viewed holdg an ternatnal gay pri para Jesalem as an unnecsary provotn, showg jt how succsful Israel’s relig tablishment has been shapg a gree of obedience to s sensivi. Will bee the 26th natn to fully tegrate gay and straight members of the ary, acrdg to the Palm Center, a thk tank at the Universy of California Santa Belk, the center's director, said full tegratn has been succsful even untri engaged equent bat, cg Israel, Amerin's closet ally the Middle East, as an example. Draftg openly gay soldiers to the IDF and other ary forc "has been highly succsful and has no negative impact on morale, retentn, reads or overall bat effectivens, " acrdg to a Palm Center report, "Gays Foreign Milari 2010.

IDF GAY SOLDIERS

Internal monorg of gays ntued until then did homosexualy the IDF "beme totally a non-issue, " said Franc Raday, a profsor of ternatnal law at the College of Management Amic Studi the cy of Rishon wh the heavy fluence Israel's ultra-nservative relig polil parti wield parliament, the untry has "an extremely liberal stand on homosexualy, " said David Rosen, the Jesalem-based ternatnal director of terrelig affairs for the Amerin Jewish Commtee, noted that the same ultra-Orthodox lears who regularly cry gay pri paras never tried to stop openly gay soldiers om IDF reason, Rosen theorized, is that they did not want to open a natnal bate over who n serve the IDF, bee ultra-Orthodox semary stunts are exempt om ary service -- a policy that a majory of Israelis want to ncel.

GAYS THE ISRAELI MILARY

"We speak wh them regularly, pecially wh manrs and tors, " Gher said, addg that the IDF has been "sharg s rmatn" wh the Lev, who disclosed his homosexualy durg a stt the IDF, believ that wh the proper environment, beg gay the ary "n be a non-issue.

In his recent blog post, he begs for asylum Canada as they prepare to port him back to the Paltian terrori, where is more than certa that he will suffer the same fate of so many other outed gays that me before him, and had the unlucky fortune to be born to one of the most sadistic societi the world when to their treatment of homosexuals.

(It also bears mentng that the picture is ditive of a culture wh the Israeli Defense Forc that the straight soldier feels fortable enough his masculy, and wh his fellow soldier’s homosexualy, to be seen such a public image holdg hands wh him. Although Tel Aviv may be where all the actn is (as is the se wh most pursus Israel), ask any gay who liv here, or any gay who’s been here, and they will tell you that Israelis are the most open and welg society the world toward homosexuals.

ARMY’S ‘GAY SOLDIERS’ PHOTO WAS STAGED, IS MISLEADG

Even as gay, lbian, and bisexual Amerins have been able to serve eely sce the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" September 2011, a medil regulatory ban still prohibs transgenr ary service, forcg the timated 15, 000 transgenr soldiers currently servg the armed forc to rema closeted.

Hoe of Reprentativ recently passed a fense bill that pav the way for gays to serve openly the ary for the first legislatn -- which will face tougher opposn when raised the Senate this summer -- has been strongly advoted by Print Obama, who has pledged to change the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. The vio report below shows what lead to the Israeli ary adoptg the liberal approach, and vtigat whether the change of policy was implemented on the ground - wh the ary bas and the bat Azaria -- the gay bat soldier terviewed the story -- said he had never been discrimated while on uniform. He explaed that durg his obligatory three years service there was an homophobic atmosphere his un, but the days, when he is lled to serve as a rerve soldier, is much easier for him bee his ras accept and rpect Azaria (wearg blue shirt) durg his rerve serviceAs mentned the story by one of the terviewe (Prof.

Today, Tel Aviv is one of the most gay-iendly ci the world, but outsi of the liberal metropolis most Israelis are nservative ncerng have been two vlent hate crim agast gays Israel past few years; two young people were murred and several others hurt when an unintified gunman opened fire the Tel Aviv Gay and Lbian Associatn Center (Augt 2009), and three marchers were stabbed and jured durg the gay para Jesalem (June 2005) by an orthodox Jew who claimed he was actg the name of the orthodox muny there is no acceptance of homosexuals at all. The newly hip, multimedia-savvy IDF Spokperson’s Office posted Monday on s Facebook page a photo of two ostensibly gay soldiers, one seemg to belong to the Givati Briga and the other to the Artillery Corps, holdg hands and walkg on a cy street.

GAY INTY, SAME-SEX RELATNSHIPS, AND MILARY SERVICE

But while homosexualy the ranks is officially accepted, the army appears to rema sensive to the sexual orientatn of higher-rankg officers, Langer said, and there are few homosexuals the upper echelons of the armed servic.