The LGBT community in Israel: access to the surrogacy procedure and legal right for equality, family life and parenthood

Abstract

In Israel’s legal system, equality is a fundamental principle. LGBT people in Israel suffer from discrimination due to their sexual orientation and their right to equality, parenting, and family life is impaired. Regarding the surrogacy procedure, the Supreme Court has unequivocally stated that the relevant laws discriminate against LGBT people and their fundamental rights when compared to heterosexual people. The main problem is that the statutes block the access to the surrogacy procedure of single men and male couples, harming their right to equality, right to a family life and parenting. The article suggests adopting the minority ruling of Justice Uzi Vogelman in HCJ 781/15 and declaring the nullity of the sections in the laws that discriminate against single men and male couples. This remedy is a lawful and operative solution for the inequality rooted in the surrogacy arrangements towards homosexuals that want to establish a family and become parents. The expectation from the legislature to amend the law is unrealistic, due to the political construction of the Israeli Knesset (parliament). An innovative approach for the amendment of the inequality towards LGBT people should be the nullity of the discriminating sections of the law.

Winds of change: How street‐level bureaucrats actively represent minority clients by influencing majority clients—The context of LGB Israeli teachers

“…Indeed, the city of Tel Aviv is known as the gay capital of the Middle East and attracts LGBTQ+ people and their supporters from all over the world (Kama & Ram, 2020;Snellings, 2019). Developments in the legal, technological, and social fields in Israel have led to the creation of a model LGBTQ+ family (Ilany & Ilany, 2021).…”

“…In recent decades, however, legal protection for the LGBTQ+ community has improved considerably. Equality is a fundamental principle of Israeli law (Ilany & Ilany, 2021) and LGBTQ+ people are entitled to the same rights as all other citizens in a liberal democracy (Gross, 2014). Indeed, the city of Tel Aviv is known as the gay capital of the Middle East and attracts LGBTQ+ people and their supporters from all over the world (Kama & Ram, 2020; Snellings, 2019).…”

“…Indeed, the city of Tel Aviv is known as the gay capital of the Middle East and attracts LGBTQ+ people and their supporters from all over the world (Kama & Ram, 2020; Snellings, 2019). Developments in the legal, technological, and social fields in Israel have led to the creation of a model LGBTQ+ family (Ilany & Ilany, 2021). However, paradoxically, LGBTQ+s in Israel have not yet been granted the same rights as heterosexuals when it comes to marriage and parenting (Gross, 2014; Snellings, 2019).…”

How street-level bureaucrats exercise their discretion to encourage clients’ political participation: A case study of Israeli LGBTQ+ teachers

“…In the United States, for example, although the Supreme Court upheld the right to same-sex marriage in a 2015 decision, LGBTQ+ individuals still labor under an absence of universal workplace antidiscrimination laws and experience incidents of homophobia, transphobia, and violence (Sabharwal et al, 2019; Sears and Mallort, 2011). Although in Israel LGBTQ+ individuals are in theory equal under the law, in reality they are often treated unequally, especially with regard to domestic issues such as parenting (Ilany and Ilany, 2021). Moreover, in the last decade there have been occurrences of violence and homophobia (Hartal and Sasson-Levi, 2018).…”