Since 1993 openly gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers serve without hindrance in all branches of the Israeli military, including special units. That’s over 20 years if anyone’s counting. The Israeli military recognizes same-sex couples, including widows and widowers of the same-sex.
Recently, I realized that a lot of people don’t know how much progress had been made all over the world in respect to LGBT recognition and equality. I think military policies are especially telling as far as LGBT issues go, because the military is at the core of every nation’s pride. Although U.S. is taking steps in the right direction as of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in 2011, the end of DADT didn’t mean what many thought it meant. It didn’t mean that LGBT military personnel would suddenly receive equal rights and fair treatment from the U.S. government. I am not harping on the fact that it has proven to be a process and that social policy, stunted by centuries of religious zealotry & bigotry, affects rate of progress, as long as progress is being made. Which admittedly it is.
Some day, hopefully soon, United States will be able to call itself a fully modernized country.
misanthropy misunderstood 
I recognized that it was a photo from Israel even before I read the text. I agree. Israel has a good policy when it comes to gay/lesbians.
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I’m gonna try not to show my stupidity too much on this comment, but what I think is really called for here is a policy called ”mind your own business” , where everyone’s sexuality is no one’s business but the person’s own.
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True dat! That ain’t no stupidity! Thats muscleheaded wisdom!
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Boooring
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I long for the day when no one really gives a shit about anyone being gay or smoking pot. It’s like disapproving of wind or gravity. It exists, always has, and always will. And the public figure who rails the loudest against homosexuality is ALWAYS a self loathing gay person. You’d think they’d figure that out by now.
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AMEN! only the most stunted single celled slack jawed organisms would deny these truths, and they do. 100% in agreement with every friggin word. It blows me away that this here the u.s. Is in some ways so ass hat backwards! While a tiny country slap dab in the middle
east is 20 years ahead of us. Not
to say that i dont love this country, because i do.
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This is another one of those areas where I really cringe every time someone in our government gets on a pedestal and chastises someone in another country for not having progressive values or an equal society… because I look around at the problems we still have with sexual preference, race relations, and gender relations… and I can’t figure out exactly where we have solved all these problems to a point of being able to chastise other nations for not getting it right.
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Great point. We clearly have a ways to go still.
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This is a topic about which you know more than I do, so I have a question for you. How, since the end of DADT, are openly gay members of the armed forces not receiving equal rights and fair treatment? I’m asking this question out of genuine interest and curiosity, not to be argumentative or facetious.
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You know its a complex issue i am not THAT equipped to answer but the biggest hinderance has been recognition of gay family units, its like gays can serve but can’t have recognizable unions, so second class citizenship is still an issue, it took a while after dadt repeal for gay partners/kids of unions to receive benefits of any kind, even then they couldnt receive health insurance or housing rights, which is huge. Supposedly last year the latter two were finally extended to gay unions after a bit of a dog fight. I haven’t followed up on any exact subsequent steps taken. There is other stuff i’d need to look up as to give the subject due accuracy, there is a reason my post is kinda short. Maybe later i’ll right a more dutiful comprehensive article :).
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“Right”=write…did a vintage doobster there!
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No worries. There are times when the brain speeds way past the fingertips. Most times, in fact.
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Even though I loath Israeli policy to Palestine, I’m a fan of the countries progressive nature in almost all other matters, and am a huge fan of rabbis (especially Israeli based rabbis) from all but the strictest of Orthodox movements. Much to be studied and learned.
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I appreciate that. :). I won’t get into a dispute on the issue of Palestine, this is a divisive subject, let it be said that i support Israel unequivocally, i recognize problems and issues in terms of some policy & action on both sides, but believe that a history as rich in tumult and conflict as one shared by that region cannot be fully grAsped or judged by a lay person out of the U.S.. Cheerio
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