Liberal and pro-Israel activism go hand-in-hand, argued 2000 College of Communications graduate Matt Lebovic Monday night. In an event co-hosted by BU Students for Israel and Spectrum, Lebovic spoke about the Israel government’s approach to gay rights.
Lebovic explained that though Israel does not certify gay weddings, this is only because only Orthodox weddings are certified by the government. Like many heterosexual couples who don’t want or cannot have an Orthodox ceremony, gay couples seeking to live as married couples in Israel can have the ceremony elsewhere. Many gay and straight couples marry in the nearby country of Cyprus because the Israeli government recognizes weddings performed in other countries.
Lebovic also said that unlike the United States military, the Israeli military accepts openly gay citizens. “You can say a lot about a society by how it treats its gay people,” he said after his speech.
“He debunked a lot of myths about Israel,” said Spectrum President Katie Uva, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman. “He confronted both the good and the bad about it. It would be great if we had this kind of debate [about political issues] regularly.”