As France becomes 14th country to approve same-sex marriage, Israel still lags behind | Haaretz.
As France becomes 14th country to approve same-sex marriage, Israel still lags behind
Despite a sorely divided public, violent protests and promises for a legal fight, France welcomes same-sex marriage. Meanwhile in Israel, civil marriage still proves elusive.
France became the 14th country to allow same-sex marriage on Tuesday after parliament approved a new law championed by President Francois Hollande. But it came at a high political price amid violent street protests and a rise in homophobic attacks.
Hollande’s “marriage for all” law is one of the biggest social reforms in France since his left-wing mentor and predecessor Francois Mitterrand abolished the death penalty in 1981, a move which also divided public opinion.
Lawmakers in the lower house National Assembly, where Hollande’s Socialists have an absolute majority, passed the bill by 331 votes to 225.
“Many French people will be proud this job is done,” Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told parliament. “Those protesting today will find themselves moved by the joy of the newly-weds.”
Yet the episode has proved costly for an already unpopular president. Critics said Hollande should focus instead on fixing the moribund economy while opponents of the law have demanded a referendum and protests against it descended into violence.
Opposition conservatives and centrists immediately appealed to the Constitutional Council, the country’s top court, to have it struck down.
The ruling body will now debate whether the law is constitutional. Hollande wants the bill to come into effect by May 25, with the first gay marriages anticipated in June.
The debate has been blamed for a spate of homophobic attacks, including the beating of a 24-year-old in the southern city of Nice on Saturday. Interior Minister Manuel Valls warned this week of “zero tolerance” for such violence.
Socialist and conservative lawmakers had come close to blows more than once during lengthy parliamentary debates on the law, which authorizes adoption and marriage but will not allow gay couples to use medically assisted procreation.
Opponents of the law attempted to unveil a banner in parliament calling for a referendum before being taken away by security.
“You are adding a crisis to a crisis. You are stirring up tensions and are lighting the fuse of homophobia,” Herve Mariton, a member of the opposition UMP party, told lawmakers ahead of the vote.
France, a mainly Catholic country, follows 13 other countries including Canada, Denmark, Sweden and most recently Uruguay and New Zealand in allowing gay and lesbian couples to tie the knot.
In the United States, Washington D.C. and nine states have legalized same-sex marriage.
Unlike Mitterrand’s abolition of the death penalty, which most French people opposed at the time, polls showed more than half the country backed Hollande’s gay marriage law.
The gay community greeted the news with fanfare, with some equal rights groups dubbing April 23 the “Day of Love”. Meanwhile, opponents gathered outside parliament for fresh demonstrations.
The leader of the “anti” movement, a feisty female comedian who goes by her stage name Frigide Barjot, has vowed to continue protests that have already brought thousands to the streets. They will begin on May 5, the first anniversary of Hollande’s election.
Far from the same-sex chuppah
As yet another Western country says “I do” to gay marriage, same-sex wedding day in Israel is still far off. During coalition negotiations after the recent election, there were reports that Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party was trying to push civil marriage – as promised during the campaign – but ultimately, the issue was left off the table.
In Israel today, the religious establishment still has a monopoly over issues of marriage and divorce. To circumvent this, many Israeli citizens have a civil marriage overseas and then register it at Interior Ministry. But if they later decide to divorce, they usually must do so domestically, under the auspices of the religious courts.
Same-sex couples have access to the same loophole, thanks to a 2006 Supreme Court ruling. They too can get married abroad in a country where same-sex marriage is legal and then register with the Interior Ministry in Israel. Many have done so since the option became available while others customize their partnership by signing property or prenuptial agreements, or holding ceremonies that have no legal status.
Three times MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz), chairman of the lobby for civil equality and pluralism in the Knesset, submitted bills in the Knesset seeking civil marriage, but each was blocked at an early stage.
In the arena of marriage equality, Israel lags well behind the rest of the Western world, said Horowitz, pointing out that the situation here is worse because there is no option, even for opposite-sex couples, for a civil marriage outside of the rabbinate.
“Israel must choose which group it’s in: that of Iran, Saudi Arabia and China or the group with France, Spain and New York,” he said. “Are we in the camp of darkness or the progressive camp?”
