Talya lev speaks with the conviction and energy of a seasoned campaigner who scents that victory is in the Jerusalem air. The 27-year-old American-born Israeli gay activist feels that when it comes to the issue of religious Jewish lesbians, things are changing.

"We are in the middle of a revolution right now," she says.

The first same-sex Jewish ceremony officially to be termed a marriage by Liberal Judaism has taken place in Manchester.

Last Sunday, Manchester Liberal Jewish Community members Jeffrey Levine and Roman Hunter-Fox exchanged vows, a ketubah and rings under a chuppah at the city's Lowry Hotel.

The newly appointed chief executive of the Movement for Reform Judaism has said the Jewish community should learn lessons from the gay pride movement.

Ben Rich, who is also a communications consultant, spoke to a crowd at the first Harrow Day Limmud at Heathfield School in Pinner on Sunday.

Natalie Grazin, 38, has a one-year-old daughter and two-year-old son with partner Samantha Cohen.

She feels the focus for gay rights in the community has been too much on weddings. "I think a lot of communities get very hung up on the most extreme question, whether to hold chupahs for same-sex couples in shul. That's absolutely not the key question. It's everyday things that matter."

A US gay advocacy group has cancelled plans to allow pro-Palestinian campaigners to host a "Smash Israeli Apartheid" party at its New York headquarters.

The event was due to take place at the city’s LGBT community centre as part of international “Israeli Apartheid Week” at the beginning of March.