I understood the point you were making.
However if we agree on full equality, then please recognise that when a state allows surrogacy for heterosexual couples but makes it unlawful for same sex couples, this is anti-LGBT discrimination.
If you want to complain about surrogacy in Israel because you believe all surrogacy exploits women, perhaps you would benefit from contacting lobby groups in Israel who aim to make all surrogacy illegal. There are plenty of statements on record from women who happily volunteer to be surrogates and the law in Israel is well defined, has been around for two decades, ensures that the surrogate mother fully understands what they are doing, and the assessment board always includes a professional social worker.[1]
However when you choose to derail a discussion that is no more and no less than same sex couples being treated equally and being given equal access for parental rights and medical support, then your actions will be read as supporting the use of the law as a weapon for anti-LGBT discrimination. Saying you support LGBT rights, or that you are LGBT+ yourself, does not change the way your words affect the rest of us.
Links 1. https://www.health.gov.il/English/Topics/fertility/Surrogacy/Pages/default.a...
Thanks, Fae -- faewik@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae Wikimedia LGBT+ User Group https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_LGBT+
On Sat, 21 Jul 2018 at 11:18, Mario Gómez mariogomwiki@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Fæ,
On Sat, Jul 21, 2018 at 11:46 AM, Fæ faewik@gmail.com wrote:
In Wikipedian fashion, let us stick to the published statement by Wikimedia Israel without making unnecessary inferences.
That is what I do as a Wikipedia editor. But I don't find it reasonable when it comes to WMF and affiliates activities. This would effectively mean "stick to what WMF and affiliate says and don't complain".
WMIL made a positive statement to support equality, and we know that equality is repeated in the Wikimedia Values and echoed in the developing future strategy
It is probable obvious from my previous emails, but I don't agree with this framing of the issue. Taking surrogacy as simple issue of equality is missing most of the debate about it.
My fellow colleages against surrogacy include a majority of women (including L*BT) and a quite a few men too (including *GBT). I assure you that for us, surrogacy is a form of exploitation of women, primarily women of lower social classes and specially from less-developed countries. Following the the trend of simplifying things to fit the Wikimedia Values, I would say that, in order to promote equality, we should support all women rights. And in doing so, in case of conflict, we should prioritize the right to live, and live free of violence and exploitation. Hence, the WMF should be clearly positioned against surrogacy regardless of who the intended parents are. But no, I'm not proposing this, because of the reasons in my previous emails.
And yes, just in case you were wondering, I strongly support the movement for LGBT rights, but I don't think this is a simple case of LGBT _rights_ and it also involves women rights, which are largely ignored.
Best,
Mario