| Strange Famous |
12-09-2004 05:15 AM |
Israel to treat same sex unions equally to heterosexual marriages in property matters
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/511384.html
Quote:
AG Mazuz recognizes same sex couples
By Haaretz Staff
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is reversing the policy of his predecessor and now recognizes same sex spousal unions when it comes to fiduciary matters, including taxation.
Former attorney general Elyakim Rubinstein, now a Supreme Court justice, had decided in March 2003 that same sex unions should not be recognized by the state.
Mazuz recently issued instructions not to appeal a Nazareth District Court decision that recognized a same sex union in deciding on an inheritance. According to Mazuz's decision, the partners in a same sex union will be treated the same as common-law spouses, which, despite there being no formal marriage, are considered a legal entity for matters of property. They will be recognized as such in matters of taxation and real estate, and allowed to transfer gifts between them without taxation, by virtue of their cohabitation.
A senior legal source said that the minute the "dam broke" over the issue of common-law spouses, it also covered homosexuals and lesbians. A source close to Mazuz said, "there must be distinctions made between various types of property, with an emphasis on pragmatism and flexibility, in the spirit of the times and the changing reality as well as personal status, which requires a more cautious approach and is usually a matter for the legislature."
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To me, this is the only way forward. As a religious ceremony, I believe any church has the right to refuse to marry people on any grounds which they wish - dictated by their interpretation of God.
But as a legal and civil contract or union, I cannot see how a political state can deny the right to marry to some adults and not others. There is no moral basis for it. Whether one believes God wishes only men and woman to marry each other is not relevant.
I have never understood why a person should oppose gay marriage... how does it hurt someone if someone else's relationship is entrenched or validated in law? What concern is it of anyone else what morality somebody else seems to have, if it does not cause harm.
I see a worrying trend, in both Europe and America, if this kind of "nanny state", of a so called moral majority who wish to enforce their moral values on everyone else - of a society who will happily watch a brawl at a basketball game but be shocked by the site of a bared breast.
Personal freedom - to do all things as we wish so long as they do not harm others - was one of the fundamental building blocks of America, and it is being erorded, I fear, every day. Although the UK is percieved as being more "liberal" than America - the same inbalances exist here, gay couples are denied the same human rights as straight couples in the UK as well.
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