QUEER QUOTE: Israel Prez Shimon Peres Endorses Marriage Equality

Israel is currently considering legislation that would enact marriage equality and those efforts got a boost when the elder statesman Shimon Peres, who is currently President of Israel (a mostly ceremonial post) said the following in an interview:

"[E]ven a person who is a homosexual is a human being, and he has rights. We have no power to take away (their) rights. We cannot take away someone's rights because they are different. We cannot take away their right to breathe, right to eat or right to start a family. We must allow everyone to live as is natural to them."

The explicit endorsement of full LGBT equality by such a prominent figure as former Prime Minister Peres is today's Queer Quote.

The Washington Blade puts the fight for marriage equality in Israel in perspective to the status quo in other countries:

Israel recognizes legally performed same-sex marriages in other countries.

A preliminary vote on a measure that would extend tax breaks to same-sex couples with children is expected to take place later this week in the Israeli parliament. A measure that would have extended marriage rights to gays and lesbians in the country recently died in committee.

Same-sex couples are currently able to legally marry in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Iceland, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, South Africa and New Zealand. Sixteen U.S. states and D.C. and Mexico City have also extended marriage rights to gays and lesbians.

Same-sex couples will begin to exchange vows in England and Wales next year.

 Hat/tip to Joe.My.God