Thursday, November 19, 2015

Even In Death…

…We face bigotry, this time by the family.
Haredi mother of transgender woman fights to stop her cremation 
Jerusalem District Court to rule Wednesday on validity of Israeli woman’s will, filed the day before her suicideThe Times of Israel
By JTA
November 18, 2015
The haredi Orthodox mother of an Israeli transgender woman who killed herself is battling the woman’s lawyer over plans to cremate the body.

May Peleg, 31, an activist in Israel’s LGBT community, filed a will with attorney Yossi Wolfson the day before her suicide stating her desire to be cremated, Haaretz reported Tuesday. The Israeli newspaper did not provide the precise date or details of Peleg’s suicide.
[…]
Peleg’s mother, who in her affidavit describes Peleg as her “son,” has requested an injunction to stop the cremation and that she “be given the body for burial according to Jewish law.” She argues that Peleg’s will “should be disqualified since my son was undergoing a deep mental crisis and was not capable of drawing up a will.”

Anticipating that her estranged family might try to stop the cremation, Peleg, according to Haaretz, wrote in a letter to Wolfson, “Since I have no contact with my biological family and since I fear that after my death there will be those who try to obstruct my final wish to be cremated, using various arguments, I ask you to represent me in court and be my voice.”
So what did the judge say yesterday?
Court: Transgender woman can be cremated
May Peleg left behind a will with instructions that she be cremated, but her estranged ultra-Orthodox family wanted a traditional Jewish burial.
Yedioth
By Asaf Zagrizak,Yael Freidson
Published: November 19, 2015

The remains of a deceased transgender woman can be cremated as per her will, despite objections from her estranged ultra-Orthodox family that wishes to bury her in a traditional Jewish ceremony, the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Wednesday.
It was too bad that even in death her family tried to take control of her against her wishes, but at least the judge recognized her last request.

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