Middle East
LGBTQ+ groups in Israel respond to war
Hamas militants launched surprise attack on Saturday
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TEL AVIV, Israel — LGBTQ+ rights groups in Israel have rallied to support to those who have been impacted by their country’s war against Hamas that began Saturday.
Hila Peer, chair of the Aguda, the Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, on Monday said her organization and other Israeli LGBTQ+ rights groups have launched an “operation to take in people” who have been evacuated from communities in southern Israel that are near the Gaza Strip. The Aguda has also encouraged anyone to reach out if they want to donate food or equipment to members of the Israel Defense Forces or offer “a listening ear.”
“We are here for each other,” reads a post to the Aguda’s Facebook page. “Let’s not go through this alone.”
“We’re keeping safe, trying to do everything we can to help our friends in reserves right now and people in active service,” Peer told the Washington Blade.
Hoshen, an advocacy group that works in secular Israeli schools, on its website also encouraged its members to donate food and equipment and host evacuees from southern Israel. Hoshen, like the Aguda, has also pledged to help Israelis who the war has directly impacted.
“Our role as a community is to stand together, hand in hand and heart to heart, to help, assist, support and encourage them,” said Hoshen.
Maya Arbel, executive director of Ma’avarim, a Transgender rights group, on Tuesday said she and her colleagues are cooking meals for IDF soldiers and collecting donations.
“[During] these times, it’s crucial for the Transgender community in Israel to be part of Israeli society and contribute to civic efforts, fostering a sense of unity with the hope and goal of coming together and improving our situation during this crisis,” Arbel told the Blade.
Arbel said Ma’avarim is also working to ensure Trans people continue to have access to health care and other basic needs during the war.
“The Transgender community in emergency situations are especially vulnerable, as not every space is accommodating to Transgender identities, and those who rely on medical resources may be marginalized due to the emergency situation,” said Arbel. “These days of chaos emphasize the importance of preparedness and know-how for aid and calmness.”
A Wider Bridge — a U.S.-based organization that seeks to build “a movement of LGBTQ people and allies with a strong interest in and commitment to supporting Israel and its LGBTQ communities” — is accepting donations on its website that it will send to Israeli advocacy groups.
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Hamas, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, on Saturday launched a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel from Gaza.
The Israeli government has said more than 1,200 people have been killed, including at least 260 people who Hamas militants murdered at an all-night music festival in a kibbutz near the border between Israel and Gaza. The Israeli government also says more than 3,000 people have been injured in the country since the war began and Hamas militants kidnapped at least 150 others.
Hamas rockets have reached Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ben Gurion Airport and other locations in central and southern Israel. The AP reports IDF forces and Hezbollah, another militant group, have exchanged fire across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The Palestinian Health Ministry on its website says Israeli airstrikes in Gaza have killed 1,055 people and injured 5,184 others. The Israeli government has cut electricity and water to the territory and has stopped food and fuel shipments.
“As a community, we stand with the people of Israel and condemn those who choose terror and torture over peace,” said Congregation Bet Mishpachah, an LGBTQ+ synagogue in D.C., on Tuesday in a statement sent to the Blade. “For many, Israel not only represents the homeland of the Jewish people, but also stands out as a beacon of freedom, hope and acceptance for LGBTQ+ Jews and non-Jews alike in the Middle East and around the world.”
Rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin joined D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Eliav Benjamin, the deputy chief of mission for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, among thousands of others, at a prayer vigil that took place at Adas Israel Congregation in Northwest Washington on Tuesday.
“We recognize the necessity for the people and State of Israel’s right to defend themselves against groups who wish to take away those freedoms and seek the total annihilation of the Jewish people,” said Bet Mishpachah in its statement. “Our hearts mourn the loss of innocent lives in Gaza as well.”
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HRC president: ‘Loss of life unfolding in the Middle East is heartbreaking’
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson is among those outside of Israel who have publicly responded to the war.
“The loss of life unfolding in the Middle East is heartbreaking and the human rights violations are appalling,” she said on Monday in a thread on her X account.
“Hamas killed hundreds of Israeli civilians over the weekend in a terrorist attack,” added Robinson. “And now countless more Palestinian and Israeli people are dying as the violence escalates while Jewish, Arab and Muslim people in the U.S. and around the world fear backlash and hate-motivated crimes.”
West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne, a lesbian woman who was born in Iran, on Saturday condemned “the attacks by Hamas and the terror groups from Gaza on Israel and her people” and stressed the U.S. “stands with the people of Israel as they once again bravely face horrific violence.”
“As someone who has experienced this kind of terror and violence, these actions never lead to peace and my heart goes out to both the Israeli and Palestinian civilians caught in this horrible conflict,” she added in her statement. “Israel has the right to defend itself and this violence must be universally condemned.”
Georges Azzi, co-founder of Helem, a Lebanese LGBTQ+ rights group, on Monday used the hashtag #IStandWithHumanity in his own tweet.
“You can support Palestinians and their right to end occupation and not support Hamas, you can advocate for Palestinian rights without endorsing Hezbollah,” said Azzi. “You can condemn terrorism and the killing of civilians and still believe in one’s right to resist. These stances are not mutually exclusive.”
Hasan Kilani, a Jordanian Palestinian queer activist, on Wednesday expressed concern about LGBTQ+ people who cannot leave Gaza.
“There is no exit for LGBTQ individuals from Gaza to leave as Israel bombed all exits for Gazans,” Kilani told the Blade. “Israel must allow those who want to escape the bombing to do so. That’s the minimum we can ask.”
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TEL AVIV, Israel — Tel Aviv-Yafo authorities on Wednesday announced the cancellation of Tel Aviv’s annual Pride parade.
The municipality said it will instead hold a rally as a sign of pride, hope, and freedom.
The decision was made after municipality representatives consulted with LGBTQ+ community organizations, LGBTQ+ party promoters, and venue owners in the city. Possible alternatives to the Pride parade were discussed.
Mayor Ron Huldai in a post he published expressed the self-evident reasons for making the change.
“This is not the time for celebrations,” Huldai wrote. “In coordination with the organizations of the LGBTQ community, we decided that this year, instead of the Pride parade, we will hold a rally in Tel Aviv-Yafo as a sign of pride, hope, and freedom. 132 of our sons and daughters are still kidnapped in Gaza, the circle of bereavement is expanding every day, and we are in one of the most difficult periods of the State of Israel.”
“Tel Aviv-Yafo is the home of the LGBTQ community, it was and always will be,” he added. “Out of our great commitment to the community, this year we decided to divert part of the budget intended for the production of the Pride parade in favor of the activities of the ‘LGBTQ Center’ in Tel Aviv-Yafo. We feel the pain of the entire country, and at the same time we do not stop for a moment the fight for equality and freedom — for everyone and everything. See you at the Pride parade in June 2025.”
The coalition of LGBTQ+ community organizations welcomed the decision.
“We welcome the decision of the Tel Aviv Municipality not to hold the Pride parade as usual this year,” they said. “In these difficult days, when we are all in pain and grieving and when many of our brothers and sisters are not at home, either as evacuees from their homes or kidnapped in Gaza, and our hearts are not whole until they return. It is true that the Pride events will undergo adjustments to the times.”
“Since time immemorial, the Pride parade in Tel Aviv, in contrast to the other parades and events throughout the country, has been a celebration of freedom, love, and equal rights and now, in these difficult days, it is important to continue to fight for a free and tolerant future even if we avoid the celebration,” they added. “Participation in the various Pride events around the country is more important than ever and we call on all members and members of the gay community and everyone who believes in a liberal, freer, and more just society to get out of the house and take part both in the rally in Tel Aviv and in the various events for the fight for equality and tolerance across the country.”
Middle East
Israeli Supreme Court: Country must allow two mothers on child’s birth certificate
LGBTQ activists praised the ruling
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JERUSALEM — Supreme Court judges on Thursday unanimously ruled that the Population Authority must register female couples as mothers on the birth certificates of their children they have together.
The decision was made following a petition submitted by nine female couples, mothers of children born through anonymous sperm donation. The panel of judges, headed by Supreme Court President Uzi Fogelman and Judges Ruth Ronen and Alex Stein, rejected the Population Authority’s claim that the birth certificate reflects only biological parentage and ruled that both the birth mother and her partner must be registered as the child’s parent.
“The exclusion of the non-biological parent from the birth certificate means a preference for the position of the biological parent over parenting based on other parents,” Fogelman wrote in the ruling. “In terms of substantive law, the parenting of both parents — the biological parent and the non-biological parent — is equal and it includes the same basket of parental rights and duties. I do not believe that when at the level of substantive law there is equality between the parents, there is room to distinguish between them at the level of registration in the birth certificate.”
Fogelman also referred to the interpretation that may be given to the lack of registration on the birth certificate as “an offensive message according to which we are dealing with relationships that are different in nature and essence: while biological parentage is ‘real’ parentage, non-biological parentage is inferior and suspect parentage, a kind of ‘conditional’ parentage.”
The ruling does not apply to male couples because the petition dealt with couples who conceived with the help of anonymous sperm donation.
The ruling was issued as part of a petition submitted around eight years ago by nine female couples, who claimed that not registering the non-biological mother on the birth certificate deprives the child of rights that include acquiring foreign citizenship and petitioned the Interior Ministry and the Population and Immigration Authority to issue their children amended birth certificates that include the names of both mothers.
The Population Authority refused the couples’ request on the grounds that the birth certificate is a document that reflects the biological parentage at the time of birth, and is not updated with the passage of time. The petitioners claimed that the Population Authority’s policy violates the right to family life and the right to equality, since it discriminates against same-sex couples. And as evidence, they pointed out that when it comes to heterosexual couples, the Interior Ministry issues them corrected birth certificates — even in cases of adoption by the spouse of the biological mother or in the case where sperm donation is used for the birth of the child.
Fogelman accepted the respondents’ position according to which the birth certificate was intended to document the identity of the child at the initial point in time of his life. Alongside this, he rejected the respondents’ position that the birth certificate was intended to reflect biological parentage.
“A birth certificate is one of the most important documents a person has. It confers a basket of rights and is also used for the purpose of regulating citizenship in foreign countries,” said attorneys Daniela Ya’akobi, Hagai Kalai and Achinoam Orbach, who represented the petitioners. “For all these years, the state has insisted on denying children of two mothers a birth certificate that reflects the reality of their lives. The judgment of the High Court of Justice put an end to ugly and unnecessary discrimination, which has no purpose and never had. It is a great victory, but no man needs or wants to win his country. The time has come for the state, on its own initiative, to allow full equality of rights for all its citizens, including LGBT people.”
Aguda Chair Hila Peer responded to the ruling.
“This is a historic day when our families are equal,” she said. “For years the Interior Ministry has refused to register proud mothers on the birth certificate and now, thanks to the High Court of Justice, we are taking a significant step towards equality.”
Middle East
Sheila Weinberg becomes Israel’s first Transgender council member
Former teacher elected in Kiryat Tivon on Feb. 27
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WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. WDG published this article on their website.
KIRYAT TIVON, Israel — Sheila Weinberg on Feb. 27 wrote another chapter in LGBTQ+ history in Israel when she was elected as the country’s first Transgender council member.
Weinberg, the 65-year-old chair of the “Transiot Israel” association and a former teacher, was elected to the Kiryat Tivon Local Council after her “More to Tivon” list won 37.7 percent of the votes.
In the past she was a member of the LGBTQ Committee in Kiryat Tivon and in the last year she was active in the protest against the proposed judicial reforms. Weinberg has two children and a granddaughter. She started the process of affirming her gender about five years ago when she was 60 years old.
“Many people in Kiryat Tivon knew exactly who I was and about my past. It didn’t bother. It seems to me that in certain places it was helpful,” Weinberg told WDG. “The residents of Tivon decided clearly in favor of a liberal, pluralistic and democratic Tivon. I have been a member of Meretz for many years and in these elections we joined a single list with ‘Yesh Atid’ and ‘Our Tivon’ and ‘Hoze Hadash’ (‘New Contract’), a list whose prominent values are equality among all. On the list were the women who founded the LGBT Committee in Tivon that operates with full vigor.”
Despite the historic title as the first trans council member in Israel, Weinberg is not content with just being active in the issues of the LGBTQ+ community, and aims (to become involved with) the education portfolio in her locality.
“I intend to use this branding to operate in Tivon in two main areas: Education and the LGBT community. Naturally, I see myself as someone who has a well-founded view of education in Tivon and I would be happy to be incharge of the education in Tivon, alongside the LGBT community. I have been teaching all my life. I taught for 35 years in several places, including the University of Haifa, and since the war started I have also been replacing a teacher who went into the reserves voluntarily.
Furthermore, I think I got my foot in the door for Trans girls and Trans boys. I will of course also continue to act as the chairman of ‘Transiot Israel’ and at the same time promote the needs of our community, which in the Haifa and Tivon area suffers from a lack of people.
I think I can speak for girls whose life path was less paved than mine. For those girls and boys who were thrown out on the street, out of school, who suffer physical and verbal violence, who are discriminated against economically and socially. And most of all, I would love to hear from my friends in the community and my friends there what the priorities are, not necessarily in Tivon but in Tel Aviv and other places.”
Other candidates from the LGBTQ+ community won in other municipalities in Israel.
In Tel Aviv-Yafo, Chen Arieli and Moti Reif entered the council for another term, as well as Reut Nagar and Shahar Levy. Assaf Weiss will serve as a council member in Ramat Gan, lawyer Daniela Jacobi in the Ramat Hasharon Council and Ella Kaufman will serve another term on the Kadima Council.
Middle East
Court sentences 13 people to death for homosexuality in Yemen
Iran-backed Houthis controls large swaths of country
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IBB, Yemen — Reports indicate a court in Yemen has sentenced to death 13 people who had been charged with homosexuality.
Agence France-Presse reported the court in Ibb Governorate, which Iran-backed Houthi rebels control, announced the sentences on Feb. 4. The province’s main city is roughly 125 miles south of Sanaa, the rebel-held Yemeni capital.
The State Department’s 2022 human rights report notes Yemeni law criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual relations, “with the death penalty as a sanction under the country’s interpretation of Islamic law.” The report also indicates there were “no known executions of LGBTQI+ persons in recent years.”
The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea since Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, launched a surprise attack against southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. The U.S. and the U.K. last month launched air strikes against the Iran-backed rebel group.
Middle East
Meta urged to make platforms safer for LGBTQ+ users in the Middle East, North Africa
Human Rights Watch, advocacy groups have launched #SecureOurSocials campaign
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By Amber Laenen | BEIRUT, Lebanon — The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is facing calls to improve the safety of LGBTQ+ people on its platforms in the Middle East and North Africa.
Human Rights Watch, Social Media Exchange (SMEX), INSM Foundation for Digital Rights, Helem in Lebanon and Damj Association in Tunisia have initiated the #SecureOurSocials campaign, which emphasizes the need for transparency from Meta.
The campaign, inspired by Human Rights Watch’s “Digital Targeting and Its Offline Consequences for LGBT People in the Middle East and North Africa” 2023 report, sheds light on the digital threats faced by the LGBTQ+ community. The report revealed that security forces in countries like Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia exploit platforms such as Facebook and Instagram to target and harass LGBTQ+ people, leading to offline consequences like arbitrary detention and torture.
Rasha Younes, acting LGBT rights deputy director at Human Rights Watch, urged Meta to be a global leader in making social media safe for everyone. The #SecureOurSocials campaign aims to engage Meta for increased transparency and accountability, urging the company to publish meaningful data on user safety investment, especially in the Middle East and North Africa.
LGBTQ+ people that Human Rights Watch interviewed reported severe real-life consequences; including job loss, family violence, forced relocations and mental health issues due to online targeting on Facebook and Instagram. The campaign calls on Meta to address harmful content, be more responsive to user complaints and enforce policies consistently.
The main goals of the #SecureOurSocials campaign include:
• Protecting the safety of users
• Addressing online targeting
• Consistent enforcement of policies
• Investment in user safety
• Human rights integration
“Governments and tech companies share the responsibility for protecting human rights, especially for LGBT individuals.”said Younes.
Despite previous engagements with Meta, concerns raised by Human Rights Watch said its concerns have not been adequately addressed.
The #SecureOurSocials campaign provides solutions for Meta to ensure the safety of LGBTQ+ users and urges the company to disclose its annual investment in user safety in the region. It also emphasizes the responsibility of social media companies to respect human rights with nondiscrimination and privacy policies and freedom of expression.
Mohamad Najem of SMEX outlined key recommendations directed at Meta, addressing the urgent need to safeguard user rights, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community.
Najem underscored the importance of including rights, nondiscrimination and privacy policies and freedom of expression in Meta’s policies. He called for measures to avoid infringing on human rights, systematic handling of issues and the identification and addressing of human rights impacts stemming from their services.
The recommendations further urged Meta to respect the right to freedom of expression, protect against unauthorized access to personal data and consider the specific experiences of discrimination and marginalization, particularly those faced by LGBTQ+ people in the Middle East and North Africa.
“Meta needs to ensure that it respects the rights of people, especially when it comes to unauthorized access to their personal data,” added Najem.
Najem highlighted Meta’s struggles with content moderation, pointing out overenforcement and underenforcement issues. The insufficient investment in human content moderators and heavy reliance on automation were identified as undermining Meta’s ability to effectively address content targeting LGBTQ individuals.
Meta’s role in mitigating human rights abuses against LGBTQ+ individuals on its platforms is highlighted, with the campaign demanding accountability and transparency in policy application. Governments in the Middle East and North Africa are also urged to respect and protect the rights of LGBTQ+ people, promoting non-discriminatory laws online and offline.
A Meta spokesperson has not responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.
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Amber Laenen is a senior at Thomas More Mechelen University in Belgium. She is majoring in journalism and international relations. Amber is interning with the Blade this semester as part of a continued partnership with the Washington Center.
Middle East
Brother of former Israeli hostage returns to US
Gili Roman’s sister was held in Gaza for 53 days
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WASHINGTON — Yarden Roman-Gat, her husband, Alon Gat and their 3-year-old daughter, Geffen, were visiting her in-laws in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, on Oct. 7, 2023.
Hamas shortly after 6 a.m. launched a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel from the Palestinian enclave it governs. Four militants placed Roman-Gat and her family into a car with two other Be’eri residents. They jumped out of it as it approached Gaza. Roman-Gat handed her daughter to her husband and they ran away.
The group the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization held Roman-Gat hostage in Gaza until her release on Nov. 29. Her brother, Gili Roman, a gay teacher and member of Israel’s Nemos LGBTQ+ Swimming Club who lives in Tel Aviv, returned to D.C. last week.
“She’s doing well,” Roman told the Washington Blade on Jan. 18 during an interview at a hotel near Union Station.
Roman-Gat spoke to “60 Minutes” less than a month after her release. Roman shared with the Blade details about his sister’s time in captivity.
He said she was alone, with three men guarding her.
“For 53 days she was observed and subjected to the will of three guys,” said Roman. “We are relieved because she was not abused, and we know that other people were abused and violently treated. This is not her case, but it was still a very traumatic experience.”
Militants on Oct. 7 killed her mother-in-law and kidnapped her sister-in-law, Carmel Gat, who remains in Gaza.
Roman said his sister learned militants had murdered her mother-in-law when she overheard “a very small” part of a song on Israeli radio that had been dedicated to her.
“This is how she found out that she had been murdered, that her sister-in-law is still a hostage,” Roman told the Blade. “Since they didn’t talk about her daughter and her husband, she concluded that they are alive.”
He said the men who held his sister hostage were members of Hamas and were religious. Roman told the Blade that some of them had university degrees and they explained to Roman-Gat why she had been kidnapped.
“She was a tool of war,” said Roman. “They told her many times it is not about Gaza and it’s not about Palestine. It’s not about the Palestinians.”
“The only reason that they’re keeping her is for the global fight for Islam, is a sort of global jihad,” he added. “Of course, they do not expect to get a Muslim empire, now. She’s just a tool in the long run ambition of them to have a Muslim empire around the world. This is pretty harsh, and they constantly told her that. This is the kind of extremism that she lived in and had to protect herself (from.)”
Roman said they also forced his sister to wear a hijab.
“She said it became her only shield,” he told the Blade.
Roman said his sister didn’t realize she was going to be released until shortly before it happened. Roman told the Blade the militants wanted her to change out of the hijab she had been wearing and to appear happy, but “she wasn’t willing to do that.”
Roman-Gat reunited with her daughter, husband and her family at a Tel Aviv hospital a few hours after her release.
“It was super exciting,” recalled Roman. “It’s like the birth of somebody you already know … it was very, very moving.”
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The Israeli government has said Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, including at least 260 partygoers and others at an all-night music festival in Re’im, a kibbutz that is a few miles southwest of Be’eri. Carmel Gat is among the roughly 130 people who Hamas continues to hold hostage in Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says more than 25,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began. Israel after Oct. 7 cut electricity and water to Gaza and stopped most food and fuel shipments.
Hezbollah, which the U.S. and Israel have designated a terrorist organization, has launched rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel.
The Houthis in Yemen have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea since Oct. 7. The U.S. and the U.K. this month launched air strikes against the Iran-backed rebel group.
Roman told the Blade that many Israelis do not feel safe in their own country.
“We are all feeling so fragile,” he said.
Roman said his sister thinks that “somebody could take me” when she is on the street.
“I told her I feel exactly the same thing … like somebody can take my family and I will not see them for 100 days and I will not see them anymore,” Roman told the Blade.
He also pointed out more than 100,000 people have been displaced from southern and northern Israel since Oct. 7.
“We are under severe attacks from the north as well,” said Roman. “People are displaced. They don’t know when they are going to go back home. They know some of their houses have been attacked, demolished, bombarded.”
Roman noted Israelis who live near the West Bank are also concerned “their towns are going to be infiltrated” by militants who have dug tunnels. He also said there are reports of hostages and Israel Defense Forces soldiers killed “almost every day.” (The IDF on Monday said 24 soldiers were killed in Gaza.)
“We are feeling overwhelmed with fear and anxiety,” said Roman.
The International Court of Justice earlier this month heard legal arguments in South Africa’s case that accuses Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under increased pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
“[It’s] hard to answer,” Roman said in response to the Blade’s question about whether the Israeli government has done enough to secure the hostages’ release.
Roman spoke with the Blade after he and other hostages’ relatives met with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and other lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Roman and his cousin also had a private meeting with U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
“They were so attentive, so reasonable, so supportive,” said Roman, referring to the meeting with Sanders and Warren.
No ceasefire until all hostages are released
Roman was in D.C. days before A Wider Bridge brought a group of LGBTQ+ activists from the U.S. to Israel.
Today we visited Kibbutz Kfar Aza with a delegation of #LGBTQ activists from the United States in order to bear witness to the atrocities of October 7. It was a strong reminder for the values we are fighting for, the values that define us in contrast to our enemies, and most… pic.twitter.com/xX14A8JkkC
— Elad Strohmayer 🎗️ (@EladStr) January 23, 2024
The trip coincided with growing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The genocide in Gaza and violent attacks in Israel and Palestine must end,” said the National LGBTQ Task Force ahead of its annual Creating Change conference that took place last week in New Orleans.
Roman told the Blade he was afraid to walk in public while holding a poster with Gat’s picture on it because people “screamed at me, commented on it” when he was in New York.
“They don’t see me as a person,” said Roman. “I don’t think they see Carmel or Yarden as a person. They don’t see them as people. They see them as what Hamas tried to make them, a tool of war.”
“You have many people who are not on our side, who are justifying the fact that people have been murdered, that people have been raped, slaughtered, taken hostage,” he added.
Roman also said there cannot be a ceasefire until Hamas releases all of the hostages.
“There might be a ceasefire if all the hostages will be released,” he said. “The hostages are key.”
Middle East
Israeli Supreme Court rules LGBTQ couples can adopt children
The Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that existing law allows LGBTQ couples to adopt- as part of the petition submitted in 2021
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By Anita Gould | JERUSALEM, Israel – Six years since the state pledged to change adoption law so that discrimination against same-sex couples would be eliminated, the Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously ruled that existing law allows LGBTQ couples to adopt.
The judges issued their decision as part of a discussion of the petition that two LGBTQ couples submitted in 2021 with the Reform Center, the Aguda, Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance and the Proud Fathers Association.
The petition dealt with the adoption law that states “there is no adoption except by a man and his wife together,” thus discriminating against LGBTQ couples who can only adopt children in which heterosexual couples are not interested. These are usually older children or children with special needs, and it is required that the term “man and his wife” in the adoption law be interpreted to include spouses of the same sex.
“Six decades have passed since the box ‘man and his wife together’ was written in the adoption law,” wrote the judges in their decision, “Since then, we have learned to know that a stable and loving family unit, which can form a solid foundation for raising a healthy child, can be a family unit of a man and a woman, of a woman and a woman and of each person — provided that the best interests of the child are preserved. This insight is the focus of the interpretation given by us today to the provision of Section 3 of the law. In this interpretive ruling, which brings same-sex couples through the ‘main door’ of non-adoption, we are walking in a groove that has already been plowed in rulings in the field of family law and in other areas, which over the years have recognized the existence of same-sex relationships, the parenting of same-sex couples and their right for equality. Our ruling even continues an existing interpretive axis that refers to the adoption law, an axis that expands the range of potential efforts beyond the limits of the traditional family model of ‘man and woman,’ in order to fulfill the purpose of the law. This interpretation is therefore required by the changes of the times, the principle of the best interests of the child, human dignity and the principle of equality.”
More than seven years of struggle
The issue of discrimination in the adoption law was raised for the first time in front of the Supreme Court in the first petition submitted in 2016. The State then sought to amend the adoption law within a year and a half so that discrimination against LGBTQ couples would be eliminated. In 2019, a legal memorandum was published on the subject, but it was not published.
After the previous government stated there was no political possibility to amend legislation but they had no objection to the petition being scheduled for hearing before the High Court of Justice, a hearing on the petition was scheduled for the summer of 2022, but it was canceled in light of the fall of the government and the elections held at the end of 2022.
The first hearing on the petition was held in August.
According to the State’s position submitted in advance of the hearing, the best way is to wait for the amendment of legislation, but because the justice minister believes that there is no political feasibility to amend legislation and due to the welfare minister’s opposition, who claimed that this “adds complexities and difficulties to the child” contrary to the positions of the professionals in his office, there is a legal anchor that will make it possible to receive the expansive interpretation that the petitioners request. The State, as well as the petitioners in this case, insists that this is also required due to the principle of the best interests of the child — to provide a home for the child regardless of the sexual orientation of his parents.
“This is a ray of light in a dark time,” said petitioners Shahar Gloverman and Shay Gortler. “For more than eight years we have been waiting in line for adoption. The High Court of Justice will no longer give us back these years or the consequences of the long wait, but we are happy that the door of adoption has been opened for the next LGBT couples.”
“During the difficult times we are in, we welcome small moments of kindness that inspire hope that we will rise from the ruins for a better, more just and united future,” added petitioners Tzafir Gideon and Ido Ziv, “We thank the court for its ruling that put an end to the discriminatory distinction between us as parents, which has no understanding And between the welfare of the child, one thing and another. Just as there are no second-class children, there are also no second-class parents. Love is love is love.”
A ruling that erases another expression of institutional discrimination
“For over seven years we have been fighting for LGBTQ couples so that they can realize their dream of becoming a family through adoption,” said attorney Ricky Shapira Rosenberg of the Reform Center for Religion and State who represented the petitioners. “We welcome the verdict, which accepted the position The petitioners that there should be no discrimination between same-sex couples and other couples for the purpose of adoption. The court ruled that the law stating that ‘there is no adoption except by a man and a woman’ should be interpreted as applying to couples of the same sex since the purpose of the adoption law is to ensure the welfare of the child, and in this regard there is no difference between LGBT families and heterosexual families. Once again it has been proven that the one who protects human rights in general and of the Lahtav community in particular is the Supreme Court.”
Aguda CEO Ran Shalhavi said “this is a historic victory and a groundbreaking achievement that gives a little light and hope in these difficult days. For years we have been fighting and fighting to be seen as equal in adopting children and starting a family in Israel, while Israeli governments for generations discriminated and incited against us just because of who we are, the Supreme Court once again proves its importance in protecting our rights. This day is the answer to homophobia, hatred, darkness and welfare ministers who for years denied our parentage, leaving us second-class citizens. The war only emphasized how disconnected inequality is from life itself. The time has come for equal rights in primary legislation in the Knesset: in parenting, in security, in marriage, without incitement and discrimination, and we will continue to march proudly until we get there.”
Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance stated “we welcome the verdict that erases yet another expression of long-standing institutional discrimination against the gay community, and congratulate Shai and Shahar and Tzafir and Ado that after years of legal struggle they will be able to expand their families. A big thank you to attorney Ricky Shapira and the Reform Center for Religion and State who led the petition. These are complex and difficult days for Israeli society. We demand that even at this time the political echelon does not stop promoting the rights of the gay community. Just as the battlefield does not distinguish between us, there is no justification for the rulebook to distinguish between us. We all hope that we will know more quiet, loving, and equal days.”
***************************************************************************************
Anita Gould is an Israeli photojournalist and writer who frequently contributes to Wedge (WDG), an LGBTQ community content news site and web magazine based in Jerusalem. WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. It published a Hebrew version of this story on Thursday.
Middle East
Hamas releases gay Israeli man’s sister, 15 other hostages
Militants kidnapped Yarden Roman-Gat on Oct. 7
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/10/Yarden_Roman-Gat_insert_1_courtesy_family.jpg)
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hamas on Wednesday released a gay Israeli man’s sister who had been held hostage in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7.
Media reports indicate Yarden Roman-Gat is one of 12 Israelis and four Thai nationals who the militant group released.
Roman-Gat, a physical therapist who works with elderly people and those with physical and mental health issues, and her family had just returned to Israel after a vacation in South Africa when they decided to spend the Simchat Torah holiday with Gat’s parents in Be’eri, a kibbutz that is near the border between Israel and Gaza. They were in their home on Oct. 7 when Hamas launched its surprise attack.
Media reports indicate four militants placed Roman-Gat, Gat, their 3-year-old daughter and two other Be’eri residents into a car. One of them had reportedly been placed into the trunk.
Roman-Gat and Gat jumped out of the car with their daughter as it approached Gaza. Roman-Gat’s brother, Gili Roman, a teacher and member of the Nemos LGBTQ+ Swimming Club who lives in Tel Aviv, on Oct. 30 told the Washington Blade that the militants began to run after them. He said they were shooting at them when his sister handed her daughter to her husband because he was able to run faster.
Gat hid with his daughter for 18 hours before they reached Israeli soldiers in Be’eri. He told Roman he last saw his wife hiding behind a tree to protect herself from the militants who were shooting at her.
“For us it’s like a Holocaust story,” Roman told the Blade. “It’s a horror story, the worst horror story that you can imagine.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/10/20231030_Gili_Roman_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed since the war began. This figure includes at least 260 people who Hamas militants murdered at an all-night music festival in Re’im, a kibbutz that is a few miles away from Be’eri. Thousands of other Israelis have been injured and Roman-Gat is among the 240 people who militants from Hamas and other Muslim terrorist groups kidnapped.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 13,000 people and injured thousands of others in the enclave.
A truce between Israel and Hamas that allowed for the release of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons took effect on Friday.
The Associated Press notes roughly 160 hostages remain in Gaza. The truce that the U.S., Egypt and Qatar brokered was extended two days on Monday, but is slated to expire tonight.
Middle East
‘Wedding is both defiance and pride’
IDF reservist married partner in Ein Yahav on Nov. 22
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Ilan_Cohen_and_Adam_Din_wedding_insert_1_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. This article ran on WDG’s website on Nov. 23.
EIN YAHAV, Israel — Among dozens of reservists who became a family, with a spontaneous canopy at the B&B in Ein Yahav and refreshments donated with much love from Eilat businesses and residents, Adam Din and Ilan Cohen held their wedding ceremony Nov. 22.
“We did this wedding because it is important to us that the world knows that there is love even in the middle of the war and that we can celebrate love as well through it all,” said the couple.
Adam and Ilan’s wedding was scheduled to take place about two weeks ago on the beach between Ashdod and Nitzanim. The invitations were already prepared, but the terrible massacre on Oct. 7, and the war that broke out in its wake, postponed all their plans.
Ilan was immediately drafted into the reserves in the Gaza Division, leaving Adam alone at home. Nati Harosh, the couple’s best friend who was supposed to be the groomsman at the wedding, was also drafted into the reserves as a Givati Brigade fighter.
“We were supposed to get married on the beach,” says Adam, “The war postponed the wedding, and also took Nati.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Adam_Din_and_Ilan_Cohen_with_battalion_wedding_insert_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
Adam and Ilan met a year and eight months ago.
“We met on Tinder, not for a serious purpose,” says Adam. “After we met, Ilan introduced me to a group of travelers from the gay community and we used to go on trips together. Over time we got to know each other more and more and in an organic and natural way we became together. It never had an official date.”
The short acquaintance was very significant for both of them.
“I was in the closet in front of the family before I met Ilan, and also childfree. And getting to know Ilan changed me completely,” says Adam. “I came out in front of my family and introduced them to Ilan, and I also decided that I wanted us to become parents together. My life changed thanks to him and we are really a family.”
The first friend Adam introduced to Ilan was Nati.
“Nati is a friend of mine from the time I lived in Jerusalem during my internship. We met through mutual friends and became very close friends. Nati was a giving person, like the meaning of his name Nathaniel. One of those people who were untouched by the cruelty of the world. Always ready to help. Doesn’t hold a grudge even when he is treated badly, and I would get angry for him and he wouldn’t get angry,” says Adam.
“Nati’s move from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan was one of the reasons that led us to move there as well, and since then we have been at each other’s house a lot on Shabbat,” he adds. “Nati came from a religious family, and he is liberal and open and loves every person regardless of who they are. And it was very clear and natural to me that he would be the one to accompany me on this significant occasion of mine. In the Utah wedding we held in Zoom, Nati was my witness, and we planned for him to be the groomsman in the wedding party.”
An April Fool’s prank that turned into a marriage proposal
Adam proposed to Ilan a few months ago.
“On April 1, we repeated one of our significant dates at the Saker Garden in Jerusalem,” says Adam, “Then Ilan knelt down as if he was going to propose to me and took out a Kinder egg. Kind of an April Fool’s prank. He thought it was funny. So I decided to get back at him and a few months later I also gave him a Kinder egg, only my Kinder egg had a ring in it.”
Three months ago, the two were married in a Utah wedding on Zoom in order to receive recognition as a couple who married abroad, with Nati accompanying them as a witness. They planned to hold the party itself at the beach between Ashdod and Nitzanim, at the exact place where Adam proposed to Ilan. About two months ago they returned to the place, found the perfect location for the wedding and we set a date.
But as mentioned, the events of Oct. 7 postponed the plans, and Ilan was drafted into the reserves.
“During his reserve service, Ilan saw horrible and terrible sights,” says Adam, “[It is] a horror that has no name, that gives him nightmares and scars his heart and soul. But when he comes home he comes to his shelter and his safe environment. Here he can get away for a moment from the horror outside. With the announcement of Nati’s death, the bereavement burst into our house, into our safe place.”
The two found out about Nati’s death through a news website.
One evening at the beginning of November, when Ilan was at home for a short break, a message about the death of a Givati Brigade soldier in Gaza popped up on his phone.
“He fell silent and went to the side,” Adam recalled. “His face went blank, the way it went blank when he remembered the terrible things he saw there. I asked him what he saw. He didn’t want to show me and started crying. I asked him again what happened and then he told me that Nati died. I didn’t believe him and then he showed me the news. I looked and couldn’t believe what I was reading. I saw Nati’s photo in the article and I said, ‘What idiots, they accidentally put a photo of Nati. What a mistake.'”
“I quickly called Nati to tell him to ask for the photo to be taken down so his family wouldn’t see it, but he didn’t answer,” he added. “Since then I send him WhatsApps all the time. Yesterday I sent him a selfie of us and wrote to him: Tomorrow I’m getting married, you’re invited.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Adam_Din_and_Ilan_Cohen_inserrt_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
Many people will have to die for there to be equality
After Nati was killed, the two felt that the wedding was becoming more urgent. Ilan told the story of the wedding to his friends in the reserve battalion, and also told them about Nati, who was killed in the war.
“He told them that the wedding is now more urgent than ever, and that it is precisely now in this war that love should be celebrated, and his friends suggested that the wedding be held in the unit. Two days ago he came to me and asked: What are you doing on Wednesday? And I answered him that I was working. Then he asked me, do you want to get married? I told him yes and asked him if he was coming back from the reserves, and he told me: No. We will do it in the battalion.”
WDG: Did you felt complete with the choice?
ADAM: Ilan and his colleagues have been together for over a month. When I talk to him I hear them, and I hear him talking about them, they really became family. So although the wedding is spontaneous without my friends and family being able to come, it is being held with his family, who are actually the army and the friends from the reserves. And Nati will be there in spirit too. He died among soldiers, so we will feel his love among other soldiers who will be happy with us”
WDG: How does it feel to have a “military wedding”?
ADAM: This is not the wedding I expected, but I always told Ilan that I would marry him even inside a volcano. Everywhere. At the same time, this wedding has a lot of mixed emotions. This period is full of sadness and disappointment. The LGBTQ community is an equal partner in the national effort and the war, and its men and women do not receive equal status when they return home.
We could get married like everyone else but we have to do it in a crooked way with Zoom, and in no way, LGBTQ people are literally dead to protect us but no one counts them.
Ilan has been in service for a month and a half, and yet he had to find crooked ways to get married, feeling that he is worth less than other people, who don’t even join the army.
So for me this wedding is both defiance and pride. And this is the ambivalence. We feel a part and we sacrifice the most precious, and yet we don’t deserve to be married like everyone else and we are in a less good position. And yet we continue and get married in the middle of the war.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Ilan_Cohen_and_Adam_Din_wedding_insert_2_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
WDG: Do you think that following this period, which highlights the gap between what we give to the state and what we receive, a change will come?
ADAM: For Sagi Golan’s law, Sagi had to die. Part of his mate is dead too, I guess. I do believe that we will have equal rights, I believe that many people will have to die for it.
WDG: What is it like to live when your partner is so far from home for such a long period of time?
ADAM: Since that terrible Saturday when he was called I have been sleeping on the sofa. I can’t sleep in bed without him. There are long periods when he is without reception on the phone and I am constantly refreshing the pages of the news sites, to see if anything has happened. And when he returns home afterwards there is a tremendous feeling of momentary relief and an opportunity to be together for a bit. Even though as a volunteer in the LGBTQ help line, even when he goes out to retire from the reserves, he takes a shift and volunteers remotely.”
The couple and WDG would like to thank WILLOW – Zimmer in Arava, for volunteering to host the ceremony.
WDG is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Israel. This article ran on WDG’s website on Nov. 23.
EIN YAHAV, Israel — Among dozens of reservists who became a family, with a spontaneous canopy at the B&B in Ein Yahav and refreshments donated with much love from Eilat businesses and residents, Adam Din and Ilan Cohen held their wedding ceremony Nov. 22.
“We did this wedding because it is important to us that the world knows that there is love even in the middle of the war and that we can celebrate love as well through it all,” said the couple.
Adam and Ilan’s wedding was scheduled to take place about two weeks ago on the beach between Ashdod and Nitzanim. The invitations were already prepared, but the terrible massacre on Oct. 7, and the war that broke out in its wake, postponed all their plans.
Ilan was immediately drafted into the reserves in the Gaza Division, leaving Adam alone at home. Nati Harosh, the couple’s best friend who was supposed to be the groomsman at the wedding, was also drafted into the reserves as a Givati Brigade fighter.
“We were supposed to get married on the beach,” says Adam, “The war postponed the wedding, and also took Nati.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Adam_Din_and_Ilan_Cohen_with_battalion_wedding_insert_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
Adam and Ilan met a year and eight months ago.
“We met on Tinder, not for a serious purpose,” says Adam. “After we met, Ilan introduced me to a group of travelers from the gay community and we used to go on trips together. Over time we got to know each other more and more and in an organic and natural way we became together. It never had an official date.”
The short acquaintance was very significant for both of them.
“I was in the closet in front of the family before I met Ilan, and also childfree. And getting to know Ilan changed me completely,” says Adam. “I came out in front of my family and introduced them to Ilan, and I also decided that I wanted us to become parents together. My life changed thanks to him and we are really a family.”
The first friend Adam introduced to Ilan was Nati.
“Nati is a friend of mine from the time I lived in Jerusalem during my internship. We met through mutual friends and became very close friends. Nati was a giving person, like the meaning of his name Nathaniel. One of those people who were untouched by the cruelty of the world. Always ready to help. Doesn’t hold a grudge even when he is treated badly, and I would get angry for him and he wouldn’t get angry,” says Adam.
“Nati’s move from Jerusalem to Ramat Gan was one of the reasons that led us to move there as well, and since then we have been at each other’s house a lot on Shabbat,” he adds. “Nati came from a religious family, and he is liberal and open and loves every person regardless of who they are. And it was very clear and natural to me that he would be the one to accompany me on this significant occasion of mine. In the Utah wedding we held in Zoom, Nati was my witness, and we planned for him to be the groomsman in the wedding party.”
An April Fool’s prank that turned into a marriage proposal
Adam proposed to Ilan a few months ago.
“On April 1, we repeated one of our significant dates at the Saker Garden in Jerusalem,” says Adam, “Then Ilan knelt down as if he was going to propose to me and took out a Kinder egg. Kind of an April Fool’s prank. He thought it was funny. So I decided to get back at him and a few months later I also gave him a Kinder egg, only my Kinder egg had a ring in it.”
Three months ago, the two were married in a Utah wedding on Zoom in order to receive recognition as a couple who married abroad, with Nati accompanying them as a witness. They planned to hold the party itself at the beach between Ashdod and Nitzanim, at the exact place where Adam proposed to Ilan. About two months ago they returned to the place, found the perfect location for the wedding and we set a date.
But as mentioned, the events of Oct. 7 postponed the plans, and Ilan was drafted into the reserves.
“During his reserve service, Ilan saw horrible and terrible sights,” says Adam, “[It is] a horror that has no name, that gives him nightmares and scars his heart and soul. But when he comes home he comes to his shelter and his safe environment. Here he can get away for a moment from the horror outside. With the announcement of Nati’s death, the bereavement burst into our house, into our safe place.”
The two found out about Nati’s death through a news website.
One evening at the beginning of November, when Ilan was at home for a short break, a message about the death of a Givati Brigade soldier in Gaza popped up on his phone.
“He fell silent and went to the side,” Adam recalled. “His face went blank, the way it went blank when he remembered the terrible things he saw there. I asked him what he saw. He didn’t want to show me and started crying. I asked him again what happened and then he told me that Nati died. I didn’t believe him and then he showed me the news. I looked and couldn’t believe what I was reading. I saw Nati’s photo in the article and I said, ‘What idiots, they accidentally put a photo of Nati. What a mistake.'”
“I quickly called Nati to tell him to ask for the photo to be taken down so his family wouldn’t see it, but he didn’t answer,” he added. “Since then I send him WhatsApps all the time. Yesterday I sent him a selfie of us and wrote to him: Tomorrow I’m getting married, you’re invited.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Adam_Din_and_Ilan_Cohen_inserrt_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
Many people will have to die for there to be equality
After Nati was killed, the two felt that the wedding was becoming more urgent. Ilan told the story of the wedding to his friends in the reserve battalion, and also told them about Nati, who was killed in the war.
“He told them that the wedding is now more urgent than ever, and that it is precisely now in this war that love should be celebrated, and his friends suggested that the wedding be held in the unit. Two days ago he came to me and asked: What are you doing on Wednesday? And I answered him that I was working. Then he asked me, do you want to get married? I told him yes and asked him if he was coming back from the reserves, and he told me: No. We will do it in the battalion.”
WDG: Did you felt complete with the choice?
ADAM: Ilan and his colleagues have been together for over a month. When I talk to him I hear them, and I hear him talking about them, they really became family. So although the wedding is spontaneous without my friends and family being able to come, it is being held with his family, who are actually the army and the friends from the reserves. And Nati will be there in spirit too. He died among soldiers, so we will feel his love among other soldiers who will be happy with us”
WDG: How does it feel to have a “military wedding”?
ADAM: This is not the wedding I expected, but I always told Ilan that I would marry him even inside a volcano. Everywhere. At the same time, this wedding has a lot of mixed emotions. This period is full of sadness and disappointment. The LGBTQ community is an equal partner in the national effort and the war, and its men and women do not receive equal status when they return home.
We could get married like everyone else but we have to do it in a crooked way with Zoom, and in no way, LGBTQ people are literally dead to protect us but no one counts them.
Ilan has been in service for a month and a half, and yet he had to find crooked ways to get married, feeling that he is worth less than other people, who don’t even join the army.
So for me this wedding is both defiance and pride. And this is the ambivalence. We feel a part and we sacrifice the most precious, and yet we don’t deserve to be married like everyone else and we are in a less good position. And yet we continue and get married in the middle of the war.”
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2023/11/Ilan_Cohen_and_Adam_Din_wedding_insert_2_courtesy_Tal_Rogovski_of_WDG.jpg)
WDG: Do you think that following this period, which highlights the gap between what we give to the state and what we receive, a change will come?
ADAM: For Sagi Golan’s law, Sagi had to die. Part of his mate is dead too, I guess. I do believe that we will have equal rights, I believe that many people will have to die for it.
WDG: What is it like to live when your partner is so far from home for such a long period of time?
ADAM: Since that terrible Saturday when he was called I have been sleeping on the sofa. I can’t sleep in bed without him. There are long periods when he is without reception on the phone and I am constantly refreshing the pages of the news sites, to see if anything has happened. And when he returns home afterwards there is a tremendous feeling of momentary relief and an opportunity to be together for a bit. Even though as a volunteer in the LGBTQ help line, even when he goes out to retire from the reserves, he takes a shift and volunteers remotely.”
The couple and WDG would like to thank WILLOW – Zimmer in Arava, for volunteering to host the ceremony.
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2023/03/LGBTQI_activists_protest_against_proposed_reforms_to_Israel_judiciary_insert_1_courtesy_George_Avni.jpg)
ובשיתוף Washington Blade, שותף המדיה של WDG בארה”ב
בעקבות מתקפת הטרור על ישראל בשבת השחורה של השביעי באוקטובר, יצאו חמישה ארגונים להט”בים אמריקאים בעצומה הקוראת לכלל ארגוני הלהט”ב האמריקאים לתמוך בישראל.
העצומה, שפורסמה ביום שישי האחרון, קוראת ללהט”ב אמריקאים לגנות את המתקפה הרצחנית שביצע חמאס נגד ישראל ואזרחיה.
מאחורי הקמפיין, הנושא את הכותרת “להט”ב אמריקאים מתאחדים נגד טרור חמאס” עומדים חמישה ארגונים – ארגון A Wider Bridge הפועל לקידום הקשר בין הקהילה היהודית לקהילה הלהט”בית, ארגון One Community מאריזונה, ארגון SAVE מדרום פלורידה, ארגון Equality California וארגון Garden State Equality מניו ג’רסי.
“באוקטובר 7, 2023, ארגון הטרור חמאס פתח במתקפה על מדינת ישראל והעם היהודי”, נכתב בעצומה, “מתקפה זו הביאה לרציחתם באכזריות של למעלה מ-1,400 ישראלים – כולל ניצולי שואה וילדים, חטיפתם ולקיחתם כבני ערובה של לפחות 200 נוספים, ולמותם הטראגי של אינספור פלסטינים חפים מפשע שחמאס מנעה את פינויים.
אנטישמיות, הומופוביה וטרנספוביה הולכות יחד. כאמריקאים להט”בים ובעלי ברית, אנחנו יודעים מה זה כשקיצוניים אלימים מנסים להרוג אותנו בגלל מי שאנחנו ומי שאנחנו אוהבים. יתרה מכך, אנו יודעים היטב מה זה שאנשים שסמכנו עליהם שישמיעו קול של אומץ ומוסר שותקים לנוכח ההרס שלנו. חיפשנו את ליבנו בשבועות האחרונים כאשר מלמולים של “זה מסובך”, נשמעו מסביבנו כאזעקה מוכרת מדי. למרבה הכאב, אפילו ראינו כאלה שמאשימים את היהודים באלימות שהם סבלו.
לא נשתוק.
רצח של חפים מפשע לעולם אינו מוצדק. למרות שאנו מכירים בכך שאנשים בעלי רצון טוב עשויים לחלוק על ממשלת ישראל הנבחרת, איננו נקראים לפתור את סוגיית האוטונומיה – למרות שאנו תומכים בה הן עבור ישראלים והן עבור פלסטינים. זה הכרחי לחלוטין שכלהט”בים וכאמריקאים בעלי ברית, נגנה באופן חד משמעי את ההתקפות האכזריות של חמאס.
אנו מבקשים מכם להצטרף אל אבלנו על כל החיים התמימים שאבדו, ועל בני הערובה שעדיין מוחזקים. ומבקשים מכם להצטרף אלינו לקריאה כי למדינת ישראל יש זכות קיום וכי לעם היהודי מגיעה מולדת שבה יוכל לחיות בחופשיות; ושאין עוד לנצל את העם הפלסטיני ומגיע לו שלטון עצמי לגיטימי באומה שלו.
להטב”קים ובני בריתם האמריקאים יודעים שכל קבוצה המוקדשת לשנאה היא איום קיומי על כל האנשים המודחים לשוליים. עמדו איתנו בצד הנכון של ההיסטוריה היום. עמדו איתנו למען צדק, הוגנות ושוויון לכל האנשים”.
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