Aharon Barak
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Aharon Barak to receive award from LGBT community
The supreme court president emeritus is to be recognized at the beginning of June for his contributions to extending equal rights as attorney general and a justice.
As early as 1976, at a time when those in positions of power rarely, if ever, considered the needs of the Israeli LGBT population, Supreme Court President Emeritus Aharon Barak met with representatives of the community to address their concerns as the then-attorney general.
In his years as president of the Supreme Court, he continued to support the LGBT community and penned several precedent-setting rulings that expanded their rights. Barak's contributions have not been forgotten, and he is to receive an award for his actions at the beginning of June.
As a justice, Barak headed the court that allowed female partners to adopt the other female partner's children in the interest of the child, forbade discrimination based on sexual orientation regarding rights and benefits in the workplace, including against employees' partners, and nullified the rule that required unmarried women requesting sperm donations to undergo a psychiatric exam and social-worker evaluation. Over the years, these rulings have constituted precedents in various courts' subsequent judgments that provided justice to the LGBT community.
Aharon Barak (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
The timing of this award is symbolic: Barak will receive it at the book release event for "LGBTQ Rights in Israel: Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the Law," the first textbook addressing the legal aspect of the LGBT community in Israel. It was edited by Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Prof. Alon Harel, Yaniv Lushinsky and Einav Morgernstern.
Barak wrote in its preface, "The constitutional structure recognizes the right of every person to human dignity, regardless of sexual orientation. Thus, every person has the right to change their sex. Every person belonging to the LGBT community is entitled to human dignity…Legislation that does not permit an individual in the LGBT community to fully realize their right to human dignity and civil and social rights is unconstitutional, unless it is proportionate."
The Aguda - The Israeli National LGBT Task Force said that, while politicians were slow to legislate for the benefit of the community, the court was considered progressive in its rulings on these issues.
