State Senator Stanley Rosenberg Met with LGBT Leaders in Israel
This article first appeared in the Jerusalem Post on January 8, 2016
Stan Rosenberg, Massachusetts' first openly-gay Senate President, was among ten state Senators who traveled to Israel in early December as part of an ongoing relationship between Massachusetts and Israel, with strong economic and cultural ties. “This was my third trip to Israel over the last thirty years and every time I visit, I come away with a greater appreciation for the complexity of the culture, society, conflict, and people,” the Senator says. “On this trip in particular, a large portion of the curriculum was focused on the strong business and economic connections that exist between Israel and our Commonwealth, so it was encouraging to see the continued prosperous development of the Israeli hi-tech and start up industries.” The delegation spent time at start-up incubators and accelerators, hearing from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and government officials about how these economies are cultivated and supported. In addition to that, the Senator didn’t skip the opportunity to meet with Israeli LGBT leaders and learn more about the LGBT struggle in the country. “We had the opportunity to meet with two different LGBT activist groups, both with their own distinct compositions and sets of challenges,” he says. “In Jerusalem, we had a group discussion with representatives from the Yerushalmim movement, a civic organization aiming to build Jerusalem as a vibrant, pluralistic, and inclusive city. One of the speakers was Sarah Weil, the founder of the LGBTQ women’s group, Women’s Gathering. She discussed the stabbing that occurred at the 2014 LGBT Pride Parade in Jerusalem and the profound impact it had on the divisions between the LGBT and Jewish Orthodox communities.”
“As a result, she helped organize and then participated in a series of public dialogues between members of the Jewish Orthodox and LGBT community for constructive conversations aimed at growing a mutual understanding and greater sense of community trust.” While in Tel Aviv, the Senator also had a discussion with Imri Kalman and Chen Arieli, joint co-chairs of the Aguda, Israeli’s National LGBT Task Force. “Chen and Imri provided the group with a more general update on LGBT rights and offered their opinions on how the issue of LGBT equality functions in Israeli politics,” he says. “While they believe there have been some successes in winning over the hearts and minds of people, especially in Tel Aviv, they expressed their frustration that this social change has not yet manifested itself into political or legal realities and reform. Having played a role in the fight for marriage equality in Massachusetts, I could relate to the process and the time it takes some people to have a true change of heart on an issue like this.”
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