LGBT rights in Israel
rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Israel / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
LGBT rights in Israel are considered the most free in the Middle East.[2][3][4][5][6][7] Even though sex between the same gender has been legalized in 1988, the old law not allowing sodomy has not been enforced since 1963.[8] Israel became the first country to allow unmarried couples to live together without marriage with the same gender. Even though the country does not see marriages of people of the same gender to be valid if done in Israel, it still sees it as valid if done in a different country.[9] Couples of the same gender are allowed to adopt children after a court ruling in 2008.[10] LGBT people are also allowed to fight in the military even if they show their pride about being part of the LGBT community.[11]
LGBT rights in Israel | |
---|---|
Status | Legal since 1988 |
Gender identity | Gender changing legal |
Military | Mandatory Enlistment includes LGBT people serving openly |
Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protection in employment and other services; both sexual orientation and gender identity protections in schools (see below) |
Family rights | |
Recognition of relationships | Unregistered cohabitation since 1994; Same-sex marriages performed outside of Israel recognized since 2006, recognition of same-sex unions inside Tel-Aviv Yafo since 2020 |
Restrictions | LGBTQIA+ people cannot be married to each other in Israel |
Adoption | Couples who are the same gender are allowed to adopt children[1] |
Tel Aviv is famous for the Pride parade that happens there every year.[12] It was called "the gay capital of the Middle East" by Out magazine.[13] Users of the website GayCities ranked it as the best gay city in 2011,[14] even though some anti-LGBT violence happened there in the 2000s.[15] The violence was criticized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres. A monument to the gay victims of the Holocaust was built in Tel Aviv in 2014.[16]