Monday, November 29, 2004

Historic Decision for Same-Sex Benefits

Israeli Courts recently decided that Same-Sex partners have the right to inherit their deceased partner's estates. Excerpts from the beginning and end of the full article

The Nazareth District Court on Sunday handed down a landmark decision declaring that the survivor of a homosexual partner is entitled to inherit his or her estate as long as the deceased has not willed it to someone else....
According to Maman, the High Court handed down a landmark decision on equal rights for homosexual couples in the workplace in 1994, when it ruled that the benefits offered to the common-law partners of El Al employees should include same-sex, as well as heterosexual, couples.
Maman also said that Article 55 of the Inheritance Law, which granted common-law partners the same inheritance rights as married partners, was primarily aimed at helping common-law couples who could not marry because of religious law.
Although the law at the time was clearly aimed at heterosexual couples, it did not rule out homosexual couples. In fact, homosexual couples belong to the category of those who are prevented by matrimonial law from marrying.
Mike Hamel, chairman of the Association of Homosexuals and Lesbians, hailed the decision as "highly significant" and said he hoped that it would be the springboard for recognizing homosexual rights in other spheres of matrimonial law.


May all peoples live in countries with equal rights and privledges.

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