By E-Li

Rabbis of the religious community Zionist have decided to marry gay-lesbian couples.

Already 11 marriages were celebrated by Rabbi Areleh Harel (pictured) of the West Bank settlement of Shilo.

He currently prepares his 12 gay marriage and has a list of more than 50 gay men and lesbians applicants seeking marriage.

They don't deny their sexual identity, he stressed, but "they want to establish a home, whether for the sake of becoming parents or for the social recognition. A family isn't just sex and love. It's an instrumental partnership, though not just a technical one."

Haaretz talks about Etti and Roni married five years ago.

"Roni, 35, owns a business; Etti, 30, is a paramedic. Roni tried conversion therapy to change his sexual orientation, with no success. He said he also had relationships with various other men, "until I decided this isn't for me; I want a family and children."

Etti said her family still doesn't know she's a lesbian. She had one "serious" lesbian relationship, but "realized it was more important to me to raise children and live in a normal family."

Both said that upholding the religious prohibition on homosexual sex was "very important" to them, as was their desire for "more or less normal parenthood," and both factors had influenced their decision.

Harel introduced them, and as the first of his gay-lesbian couples, they term themselves "guinea pigs." They are careful to keep up normal appearances before the children and the outside world, even sleeping in the same room, though they don't sleep together. Their children were born through artificial insemination.

"Most of the time, it's good for us together, like business partners. Of course we have quarrels and tensions, but who doesn't? ... Like good friends, we have a great deal of mutual respect and a great deal of platonic love.""

SOURCE: Lezbelib.com

by E-Li

In Malaysia, gays are sent in camps to correct their behavior. The women's Minister thinks these camps violate the law and that they must be removed.

It is within their school that 66 boys were identified as being gay by their teachers and sent in camps.

An education official said the camp was meant to guide the boys back "to a proper path in life" reports the BBC news.

Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Women's Minister, is opposed to these camps and said that to choose these children based on perceived female manners was traumatizing and harmful for their mental health. The camp violates the Child Act, which protects children without prejudice, she added.

The groups of LGBT rights also criticized them saying that it supports the homophobia in the country where to be gay is still illegal.

The schoolboys allegedly displayed "feminine mannerisms" - though educators in the conservative state of Terengganu did not detail what they were, the BBC's Jennifer Pak reports from Kuala Lumpur.

State officials say that, if left unchecked, the students - aged between 13 and 17 - could end up gay or transsexual.

Mr. Pang, sexual right activist, said:  "All the students will learn from these camps is that they are expected to behave a certain way."

"And in order to avoid further ridicule, perhaps they will learn to pretend better. In the end, we are only teaching them how to be a hypocrite."

SOURCE: Lezbelib.com

by Cael

I stumbled across a news article recently on MSNBC.com. Not that the article itself was particularly recent (It’s actually from 2010.), but the headline caught my eye: “Transgender Americans face high suicide rate.” Note that they do not say higher, only high, because to describe the percentage of suicide attempts for transgendered individuals versus that of the general public, there is a gigantic leap.

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by E-Li

Munich decided to build a new memorial devoted to gay and lesbian victims of the holocaust.

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SOURCE: Lezbelib.com

by E-Li

Minister for education and skills in Ireland, Ruairi Quinn, launched guidelines for principals to include gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students in the policies of schools.

"The 21st century school should be one that is safe and supportive of all students, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. I am considering the establishment of a working group comprising all the relevant sections of my department, along with the NGOs involved in this area and the education partners, to help draft a roadmap towards the elimination of homophobic bullying from our schools." said Ruairi Quinn.

This intervenes after research showed that most of the LGBT students experimented homophobic abuse in schools.

"Homophobic bullying can significantly impact on the educational and life chances of a young LGBT person, and unchecked, it has an impact on all students who learn the high price of being different," said Sandra Irwin-Gowran, GLEN's director of the education policy.

SOURCE: Lezbelib.com