Supporting the LGBTQ's Struggle for Equality

The Israel Democracy Institute’s management announced its support for the struggle to amend the newly passed Surrogacy Law so as to include same-sex couples.

Illustration | Flash 90

Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute (Friday) notified the institute’s workers today that “employees, who do not attend work on Sunday out of solidarity with the LGBTQ movement’s nationwide strike, will not have this day deducted as a vacation.”

Plesner said that the newly passed Surrogacy Law constitutes blatant discrimination and institutes inequality in a manner that is wholly contrary to Israel’s founding values and is out of touch with views widespread in Israeli society.

Plesner added that “it is sad but not surprising that on the very same day the government celebrated legislation of the Nation-State Law it refused to support equality for all Israel’s citizens. The government deliberately omitted mention of equality from the Nation-State Law and legislated discrimination against the LGBTQ community in the Surrogacy Law. The conjunction of the two laws sends a troubling message – the government is not committed to equality as a fundamental value. These laws may harm many sectors of Israelis society.