Twenty-three gay couples have held an unofficial mass wedding in Tel Aviv, walking down the aisle and exchanging vows to highlight the country’s discrimination against same-sex unions.
Hundreds of friends and relatives attended the ceremony on Tuesday evening, where couples in white dresses and suits shuffled in unison down a red carpet. Rainbow-coloured sweets were served.
“Struggle is not only about demonstrations and protests,” organisers said in a statement. “It is also about loving the one we want, the way we want. So in a place where it is forbidden to us to marry, we will marry, and in a huge way. To love is not against the law.”
Israel champions itself as gay-friendly and will this month host its world-famous annual Gay Pride week. However, rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people are severely restricted by law and in society.
Gay marriage is illegal in the country of 9 million people, although weddings performed abroad can be registered. Homophobia and transphobia are widespread among religious and conservative groups, including those in government.
Jewish ultra-Orthodox parties, a powerful political faction in the Israeli parliament, have rejected legislation that affords equal rights, such as the inclusion of gay men in surrogacy laws. Civil marriage, even for heterosexual partners, is forbidden.
Adiya Imra Orr, one half of a couple taking part in Tuesday’s ceremony, said on Facebook ahead of the event that she wanted “the state to get out of our underwear and hearts”.
“In Israel 2019, the love of women, men or just non-Jews is still not a love that is worthy of the state’s stamp and therefore illegal,” she wrote.
“Quite a few heterosexual friends ask me, ‘Why you should marry? It’s an old-fashioned institution anyway.’ I would tell them the same about the right to a passport.”
