Liran Buchny and Maor Shtern are a gay couple living in Tel Aviv who used a legal loophole in order to tie the knot.
Though Israel is a welcoming place for gay tourists and boasts a massive Pride celebration, same-sex marriage is not legal. However, gay and lesbian couples are able to have their unions recognized by the government if they wed outside the country. In 2018, over 400 same-sex couples used the loophole to marry.
So the two men, who met while both serving in the army, traveled to Portugal in order to get married, then came home and threw a big ceremony locally.
“I think that just by doing a big wedding in Israel, that’s our big statement … not letting the system take you down,” Maor Shtern told CBS News.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
The men were profiled on CBS This Morning:
Discover more
Andy
Mazel Tov !! C’mon Israel its the 21st century
RyanMBecker
It’s not gonna happen anytime soon since Israel is a theocracy. As the CBS report makes clear, every marriage is a religious marriage.
Daise
Wonderful! Love will always find a way.