Israel’s surrogacy bill results in massive street protests and day of strike

Some of Israel’s biggest companies have given support to the LGBTQ community’s national day of strike planned for Sunday, July 22. The day of strike comes after last weekend’s massive street protests over revisions in a surrogacy bill that gave rights to single women but failed to include LGBTQ couples.

via Gay Star News

Many major companies have said they will allow their workers to strike on Sunday. The companies are some of the biggest in Israel including; food companies Tnuva and Osem, pharmaceutical company Teva, communications companies Bezeq, Cellcom, Yes and Hot, and credit card companies Leumi Card and Isracard.

Israel’s third-largest airline, Israir Airlines, said it would allow staff to wear black on Sunday to show solidarity with strikers.

It is the first time the LGBTQ community has ordered a strike in Israel.

LGBT task force, the Aguda is organizing the event.

“The gay community is going on strike! Lesbian women cannot register their children, transgender people are getting stabbed in the street, youths are experiencing LGBT-phobia in educational frameworks, the Knesset (parliament) passes laws against equality – we will not continue our lives as usual, we will not allow bullying against the transgender community, the youths of the LGBT community and its members in the peripheries,” wrote the group on Facebook.