Joan Rivers Supports Surrogacy for Israeli Gay Couple

Joan Rivers Image by Getty Images

By Anne Cohen March 13, 2013

When she’s not in bed with Sarah Silverman or giving scathing fashion advice, Joan Rivers advocates for the rights of gay couples in Israel.

Rivers joined Fashion Police co-stars Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopolous, as well as a number of Israeli celebrities in lending support to Yuval and Liran, an Israeli couple raising awareness about surrogacy for the LGBT community in Israel, The Jerusalem Post reported Monday.

The couple told their story in a video — which went viral in Israel — holding up signs criticizing Israeli surrogacy laws, which they see as discriminatory against gay couples.

Celebrity supporters held up similar signs in both Hebrew and English, stating “We want them to have a baby too.”

Rivers’ attention was called to the issue by A Wider Bridge, a US organization that encourages deeper connexions between the American LGBT community and Israel. The group’s website explains that it was easy to get Rivers on board: “The wonderful gesture of Joan Rivers and her gang came after a request A Wider Bridge sent to ‘Fashion Police’ head writer and Joan’s close friend, Toni Tripoli, with links to the stories on A Wider Bridge’s website. ‘We’re so touched by the story, and the cast would be happy to do it,’ Tripoli replied almost immediately.”

“Joan Rivers was one of the first names on our minds, because she has always been outspoken about her support for gay people and her love for Israel. On Thursday she proved to us that she’s not only talking, she’s also doing,” said Arthur Seipian, CEO and founder of A Wider Bridge, in a statement released to Israeli media.

Israeli celebrities backing the cause included singers Eyal Golan, Harel Skaat, Dudu Aharon and Ninet Tayeb, journalist and TV personality Gal Uchovsky as well as entrepreneur Pnina Rozenblum, The Jerusalem Post reported.

See the original video below (enable closed captioning for English subtitles):

Anne Cohen was the Forward’s deputy digital media editor. When she’s not looking for the secret Jewish history of Voodoo in New Orleans, or making lists about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she writes for The Assimilator. She graduated from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism with an M.S. magazine concentration in 2012.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO