Anger over Israeli mayor who says there are no gays in his town

An Orthodox Israeli Mayor from the city Beit Shemesh, about 80,000ish, thinks the police should deal with the gays, stating, and an ex Iranian president would agree, we have no gays here. See, religion can bring people together...while also tearing others apart.

I guess the police won't have to deal with them since that city is gay free? What happens when gay tourists visit?



www.telegraph.co.uk...

Moshe Abutbul, the ultra-Orthodox mayor of Beit Shemesh, says no gays live in his town and homosexuality should be a police matter, amid debate in Israel over a proposal to allow same-sex unions

Israel's gay community has filed a criminal complaint against an ultra-Orthodox mayor after he said there were no homosexuals in his town and that homosexuality should be dealt with by the health ministry or the police.
Moshe Abutbul, the Haredi mayor of Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, made the inflammatory remarks during an interview on nationwide television.

"We have none of those things [gays] here. Thank God, this city is holy and pure," he told Israel's Channel 10. Asked how his town handles the gay community, he replied: "There's the Health Ministry, let them handle it. The Health Ministry, the police."

Mr Abutbul, a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, made his comments in a programme segment that featured an interview with a gay man living in Beit Shemesh, a town of 75,000 that has become a flashpoint for tensions between conservative religious and secular residents.

The remarks triggered a complaint from the Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgendered [LGBT] in Israel, which accused the mayor of incitement in a letter to Gideon Saar, the country's interior minister.

edit on 11-11-2013 by Swills because: (no reason given)

reply to post by Swills

I guess the police won't have to deal with them since that city is gay free? What happens when gay tourists visit?

Knowing the Israeli response to things they don't like I shudder to think what they might do.

On a plus note for the town and mayor they may have a boom in tourism from the bible belt US with folks trying to find out how they do it.

reply to post by Bassago


Bible thumpers don't need a reason to visit Israel but this mayor hating gays can't hurt biz, if you're looking at it from only that perspective.

In my own personal experience I've dealt with Orthodox Jews and I must say they are hard core, stone cold ridiculously strict so I'm not at all surprised this Orthodox Jew feels this way, and so proudly!

reply to post by Swills

This is amazing Swills, amazing.

My wifes best mate is gay and he has an uncanny ability to detect gays in a crowded bar/room/public place and he is almost always 100% on the money.

I asked him once, "how do you know who is gay and who isn't" and he replied "that's because I have a gaydar honey" (that's an inbuilt radar that detects gays).

This mayor has obviously not only acquired this biological technology but has deployed it throughout the Beit Shemesh area.

Amazing Swills, amazing that their biotech has returned zero gay people echoes......It is my opinion however that their Gaydar needs re-calibration.

Surely this crap is proof that stupid needs to be classified as a disease - people voted for this tool.

Pfft.....

reply to post by Swills


They're there.

Some are even in your temple, Mr. Mayor. Others may be hiding in your own home (checked your son's datebook lately?). And you, yourself, Mr. Mayor, what makes your giddyup go?

Interesting that his attitude was normal a few years ago and now seems decades behind the times. Social contracts are rewritten quickly these days.