Israeli Defense Forces Posts Photo of Gay Soldiers Holding Hands to Official Facebook Page
The Israeli Defense Forces posted this photo to its official Facebook page today, with the following caption:
"It's Pride Month. Did you know that the IDF treats all of its soldiers equally?"
The photo has generated more than 3,000 shares and nearly 5,000 likes as of this post.
The HuffPost notes:
Israel was one of the first countries to abolish restrictions on openly gay soldiers serving in the military. In 1993 the country adopted a law that prohibits discrimination against gay forces, nearly 20 years ahead of the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" in the United States.
Yet despite the military's liberal policies, a 2011 study showed more than 40 percent of gay and lesbian soldiers in the IDF say they have been harassed because of their sexuality. According to Haaretz, 45 percent of respondents claimed homophobic remarks remained frequent, with soldiers in combat units reporting them more frequently.
NOW.................IF THEY CAN SHOW A PIC OF THEM STEALING THE LAND OF AND SUPPRESSING THE NATIVE BLACK AND BROWN OF THAT LAND......THAT WOULD BE GREAT!!!
Posted by: Shannon | Jun 11, 2012 11:40:35 PM
I lived in the middle east for five years - men routinely walk hand in hand with their friends; it isn't a gay thing. Nice thought though.
Posted by: Dave | Jun 12, 2012 12:08:06 AM
And yet "The Huffington Post" comments are so heavily moderated that Freedom of Speech is compromised. Comments are so manipulated, some never appear. For this reason I have decided to boycott "The Huffington Post". It views itself as a private club rather than an actual newspaper. Don't be swayed by the liberal slant. That comes at a price. It functions much like the former Soviet newspaper "Pravda." Content and objectivity suffer. Seriously.
Posted by: Garth | Jun 12, 2012 12:26:45 AM
@Shannon,
If you're referring to Israel q\with that remark, Israel is located in North Africa, not sub-Saharan Africa. Many Jewish Israelis are the same 'color' as Arabs, and indeed many Arabs are white.
Posted by: ratbastard | Jun 12, 2012 12:27:08 AM
DAVE - what do you mean it isn't a gay thing? It has to be or...or I'll die (sobs). Make it gay. Isn't this Towleroad? WTF. Life's not fair.
Posted by: UFFDA | Jun 12, 2012 1:41:22 AM
Israel wants gays to die for them, yet they don't respect them enough to give them the dignity of marriage.
No we don't either.
But at the same time, we're mot sending out propaganda about how we're the stronghold of human rights in our part of the world.
Posted by: Mk Ultra | Jun 12, 2012 2:24:43 AM
Are barracks segregated based on sexual orientation? Heard they were.
Posted by: rick scatorum | Jun 12, 2012 3:40:28 AM
Oh yeah.
Posted by: Matt26 | Jun 12, 2012 3:46:52 AM
@mr ultra
They have civil partnerships with equal rights and if you marry outside the country they will recognize it. The only reason they don't have marriage equality is their marriage law dates back to when the land was ruled by turkey and that law gives religous leders the power to say who can marriage, and since they have bigger issues to deal with the parlament has simply not had the time to change the law. Its not that Tru don't have the votes it's simply a matter of prioritizing.
Posted by: Lee | Jun 12, 2012 4:15:31 AM
Correction: Israeli OCCUPATION Forces.
And as for the scummy argument that Muslims hate gays and therefore we should be perfectly content to watch them be murdered, brutalized, ethnically cleansed, have their land stolen and treated with the kind of inhumanity with which the US treated Native-Americans, only the lowest kind of amoral scum would make this case.
Any LGBT person who thinks this way or attempts to make this argument DESERVES the 2nd class citizenship status they're happy to see imposed on others.
Posted by: AC | Jun 12, 2012 8:35:01 AM
AMEN AC -- my thoughts exactly.
Posted by: KBL | Jun 12, 2012 10:26:30 AM
Actually, joining the Roman legion would be a good first step in becoming a citizen of the empire. Otherwise, paying bribes was the best way, and soldiers would still have to pay bribes in many cases to become a citizen. So, the legion was a mix of citizen and non-citizen forces.
Allowing gays to serve in the IDF was in part a way to avoid conscripts getting away with not serving time and a way to maintain good relations with Jewish groups in the US. Conscription is still male only though. Women have to sign up. The major way to avoid it is to be a religious "scholar", which in Israel means you spend your life as a "student" and collect welfare well into middle age.
Posted by: anon | Jun 12, 2012 12:11:06 PM
@Anon
Israel has conscripted women for a long time. It's just that they serve less time
Posted by: Steve | Jun 12, 2012 12:28:43 PM
@jerry Pritikin
Your ignorance shines through.
Iranians/Persians are not Arabs! They are two different ethnic groups.
http://www.persiansarenotarabs.com/
BTW, the very same Britain which had the arrogance to give away the Palestinians' land to Jews, threw up a democratically elected, secular and 'Westernized' government in Iran (along with CIA), only to eventually usher in the repressive regimes one after another....
Posted by: Iban4yesu | Jun 12, 2012 1:22:46 PM
Israel is culturally much more "European" than "Middle Eastern." the handholding in this case is most definitely gay.
Posted by: DannyEastVillage | Feb 19, 2013 6:48:13 PM