Sixty-eight percent of Israeli haredi homosexuals marry women, and many regularly cheat on their wives by having sex with other men, Hod, an Israeli organization that advocates for Orthodox homosexuals, has found.
68% Of Israeli Haredi Gay Men Are Married To A Woman, Almost Half Of Them Admit To Having Regular Sex With Men, Nonprofit Finds
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Sixty-eight percent of Israeli haredi homosexuals marry women, and many regularly cheat on their wives by having sex with other men, Hod, an Israeli organization that advocates for Orthodox homosexuals, has found, Ynet reported.
Hod – which was started seven years ago by Zionist Orthodox Rabbi Ron Yosef, who is himself gay (he claims to be celibate) – was formed primarily to help gay Zionist Orthodox men. But Yosef says there has been a significant increase in the number of haredi gay men who have joined the organization in the past two years, and haredim now make up about 20% of its members.
1,157 gay men who define themselves as haredi allegedly came to Hod seeking help over the past two years. Of those 1,157, 768 (68%) were married to a woman. Of them, 361 (46%) admitted that they were cheating on their wife by regularly having sex with men, defined by Hod as at least once homosexual pairing per month.
These 1,157 haredim come from all types of haredi religious communities in Israel – hasidic communities including Gur, Viznitz, Breslov, Chabad, Satmar and Belz; from many non-hasidic haredi yeshivas, including Ponevezh and Hebron and others); and from leading Sefardi haredi yeshivas, including Porat Yosef.
Yosef says Hod conducts quiet activities in the haredi community, including lectures, closed seminars and dialogues with rabbis, and that those activities are largely responsible for the increased number of haredim joining Hod.
"Fortunately, more rabbis have stopped sending the guys to 'conversion therapy' and are instead referring them to psychologists or reliable and professional social workers. The situation of homosexuals in the haredi society is much more difficult because of the social isolation they live in. A gay haredi man cannot share his situation with his friends in the community or the yeshiva, his family members or rabbis, and 'coming out of the closet' is definitely inconceivable. Most gay haredim are married to women who are unaware of their situation, and they are leading a double life. This carries a major mental price,” Yosef told Ynet.