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Significant boost to LGBT funding, Kahlon announces
Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has announced a budget of £4m for government ministries to better meet the needs of the LGBT community.
Each government ministry will appoint a civil servant responsible for preventing discrimination based on sexual orientation. At the same time, a series of sweeping changes will affect several government ministries. The Tax Authority will conduct training sessions on implementing rules regarding credit points for same-sex couples.
The Education Ministry has been handed a budget for a school education project and LGBT student groups on university campuses. The Social Affairs Ministry has been granted money to set up more support groups and centres for the LGBT community and their families. Finally, the Social Equality Ministry will receive funds to create and publicise information programmes to combat discrimination against LGBT individuals.
The Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer Hospital has also been given a budget to increase personnel tasked with approving gender reassignment surgery.
The increase in funding for LGBT-related initiatives follows criticism levelled at the Finance Ministry after an announcement earlier this year of a budget to boost gay tourism. Tel Aviv’s annual gay pride event is one of the world’s largest. Critics compared the funding to a lack of government budgetary support for LGBT organisations and projects. Kahlon subsequently met with LGBT community leaders.
Kahlon announced yesterday that “national policy must be colour-blind and serve the person as a person, irrespective of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation,” adding: “I hope that the agreement… will correct the years-long injustice against the community, if only a little.”
Ohad Hizki, director of the Israeli National LGBT Task Force (Aguda) called the announcement “a significant milestone on the gay community’s road to living equally in Israel”.
He added: “The choice to assign budgets to various government ministries lets the gay community broaden its activity on different issues on our agenda.”