BICOM

One hundred thousand Israelis attended a rally in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday night to protest against a new law that does not allow gay couples to use surrogates.

On Sunday morning, protesters blocked the Ayalon motorway in central Tel Aviv as thousands of marchers with rainbow flags took to the streets. The protests were calling for equal rights for gay couples to use surrogates as the current law only allows women without a partner or who suffer from a medical issue that prohibits them for carrying a pregnancy to term to use surrogates to have children.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be initially supportive of extending the legislation to give male gay couples the same rights, but following pressure from ultra-Orthodox members of the governing  coalition he ultimately voted against the clause.  MK Amir Ohana, a gay member of the Likud party, had proposed an amendment to extend the same rights to gay men.

The LGBT community’s umbrella organisation, The Agudah, called for the protests in response. They initiated a strike and said: “For the first time ever, the gay community will go on a national strike… workers from the community, and likewise our supporters and partners, will not be present at work and will close their businesses to protest the blatant discrimination against the LGBT community and the deterioration that has begun recently due to the government’s efforts to roll back our campaign.”

More than 40 companies from around the country expressed  their support for the day of protest and supported their employees participation.

On Thursday, the head of the Histadrut union, Avi Nissenkorn, said the national labour federation would support LGBT members who wished to take part in the strike. He called on unions and management to allow workers to take part in the nationwide strike, “without infringing their rights”.

In response to protests, the Yesh Atid party secured the support of 40 MKs to hold a special Knesset session on gay rights, which the Prime Minister is obligated to attend. Following the mounting criticism of the Surrogacy Law, the Prime Minister has agreed to lend his support to a separate Bill which will legalise surrogacy for male gay couples at a Knesset session later in the year.