Week ?: LGBTQ issues in Jerusalem

Learning about a social issue was a great change of pace in comparison to some of the historical or political issues. The issue is still a political one, but less so than in the United States. I sympathized with difficulty the JOH had when they tried to get bills passed in order to receive acceptance from the government in order to fund their parade, but it wasn't exactly surprising to me. Jerusalem and the social and political image is forever tied to religion. Catholics, Muslims, and Jews alike have not necessarily been the most accepting of the LGBTQ community and their rights, especially in the strict orthodox settings. In one response by Maia on the JOH website she said that she wished they could have "...put the Torah aside and considered the realities of people and their desires." I found this to be really powerful because it shows the direct conflict between religion and a real modern issue within Jerusalem. This made me think about so many other social issues people deal with in Jerusalem such as laws of kashrut, intermarriage between Jewish sects, and others. At what point are lawmakers and politicians compromising the needs of Jerusalemites with those of religious the right? It is interesting to look at LGBTQ rights within Jerusalem today and how they have have not been at the forefront of legislature because they have been dealing with more immediate issues such as war. It is sad that people have had to put their rights aside in order to deal with more "pressing problems", but war affects many aspects of life: social, economic, political, and cultural.
"City of Borders" seems to discuss sexuality and LGBTQ rights as a meeting-point between Israelis and Palestinians with Jerusalem as the backdrop. Israelis and Palestinians are affected by the governmental stance on LGBTQ rights and the process of social acceptance. The laws may change, but social acceptance may take years upon years to exist within the minds of the public, if ever. People within the religious right will not accept the LGBTQ community because it is not discussed and many attempt to use scripture to justify this argument (which is often manipulated in order to further their personal agendas).