Please welcome the groom and groom!
For 4 same-sex couples, it was the trip of a lifetime, as they finally heard the words - "I hereby pronounce you husband and husband"
It’s Friday afternoon, 15 degrees below freezing outside, and the streets are white with snow; but inside the Toronto marriage registry, four couples wait - smiling, expectant, excited.
The smiles are infectious, and with good reason: they’ve traveled all the way from Tel Aviv to realize the dream of a lifetime. One after the other, they’ve exchanged rings, repeated the traditional marriage vows, and heard the words they’d waited a lifetime to hear: “I hereby pronounce you husband and husband.”
“The judge explained the significance of the rings,” said emotional newlywed Itai Pinkas, a Tel Aviv city counselor for the Meretz party.
“Yoav’s mother made them for us.”
The group, four all-male couples, was accompanied by Rabbi David Lazar, a Conservative rabbi from north Tel Aviv who blessed each couple upon the conclusion of the ceremony.
While Canadian law recognizes same-sex marriages, they are roundly rejected in Israel. Homosexual and lesbian marriages are not registered at the Interior Ministry, and, in practice, homosexual couples enjoy no legal rights other than those granted by society.
Sheraton, dinner, and a night on the town
In coming days, the newlyweds will return to Israel and begin their fight for legal recognition. At the same time, they are well aware of the long, difficult road ahead.
Because of the long distance and expense involved, the weddings occurred without family or friends, except for that of Tomer Segal and Craig Condon; Condon is an El-Al steward with several friends who live in the Toronto area.
For their wedding night, the Sheraton hotel hosted the happy couples, who went out for dinner and a night on the town.
“Since the day we arrived the media festival began; I appeared on a live telecast of CBS news to explain why we want to get married there (in Canada),” Pinkas said.
He said that whoever aspires to obtain equal rights must hold a wedding ceremony.
“I am not calling on every couple to run and get married, and relationships can be strong without rings, but we believe that as long as there are wedding ceremonies for straight couples – we deserve this right as well,” Pinkas said.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement it is not authorized to acknowledge these marriages.
“The ministry operates, and will operate, in accordance with the law, and as long as the law does not permit same-sex marriages – we will not allow the marriages to be registered,” the statement said.
