Israel nominates LGBTQ speaker Amir Ohana
The Israeli government has elected its first ‘out’ gay speaker. Amir Ohana was nominated as the speaker of the Knesset in a vote which swayed 63-5. This came at the same time as a number of homophobic, anti-LGBTQ folks were also appointed to the cabinet.
Upon his victorious appointment, Ohana said: “I pledge to do my best to be worthy of the trust you put in me”.
In a continued statement, Ohana also made a declaration about the rights of LGBTQ people: “This Knesset, under the leadership of this speaker, won’t hurt them or any other family, period.”
At the time of the appointment, Ohana thanked his parents (who were present for the moment) for accepting him “for who I am.” His partner, Alon Haddad, was also present for the event and Ohana also gave a special shout-out to him as “the second half of my life for almost 18 years.”
Their children were also in attendance to witness the momentous occasion.
Ohana is a known supporter of the idea of loosening the policies that currently exist about carrying firearms so that there are more armed people on the streets in order to prevent terror attacks and respond accordingly in their event of actualization. He has also been instrumental in campaigning for the recognition of same-sex marriage, the banning of conversion therapy, and gender identity policies.
Among those appointed to the cabinet who opposes the LGBTQ population is Avi Maoz. Maoz is the leader of the Noam party, who has made harsh homophobic statements about gay people being child traffickers and compared LGBTQ advocates and allies to Nazis. He was recently quoted as saying that he is against “LGBTQ-ism as an agenda and a political movement.”
Maoz turned away when Ohana made his speech. Watch this space as the political situation unfolds.
