In what is being hailed by gay rights activists as an historic ruling, Israel's High Court has ruled that same-sex couples married in countries where gay marriage is legal can be registered as married couples in Israel:
“A sweeping majority of six justices to one ruled that the common-law marriages of five gay couples obtained in Toronto, Canada, can appear as married on the population registry.”
Opponents argued that Israel “lacks the appropriate legal framework for such marriages” and thus cannot recognize them. The Court disagreed.
Given the recent violence displayed by the ultra-orthodox Jewish community with regard to the recent Gay Pride festivities in Jerusalem, the Civil Rights Association called the decision “all the more important.”
Not surprisingly, ultra-Orthodox Jews were appalled by the ruling. Said one lawmaker: “We don't have a Jewish state here. We have Sodom and Gomorrah here. I assume that every sane person in the State of Israel, possibly the entire Jewish world, is shocked, because the significance is… the destruction of the family unit in the State of Israel.”
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