In a socially trail-blazing event in Toronto on Sept. 10, Israeli gays Uzi Even and Amit Kama were married in a same-sex civil ceremony at city hall.

"The Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia are the only places in the world that offer access to civil marriage on a full and equal basis," said their friend, Doug Hauer, a Boston lawyer who was married in Toronto just over three months ago. "You guys in Canada are ahead of the game."

Even and Kama, who have lived together for 18 years, left Toronto on Sept. 18 after a nine-day honeymoon, knowing that their marriage is contentious in Israel.

"This marriage won't be recognized in Israel automatically," said Even. "We'll have to submit our papers to the Ministry of Interior."

Once they complete the required paperwork and receive their Canadian documents, in about four months, they intend to take their case to the Israeli Supreme Court.

"We're not planning to challenge the marriage law in Israel, which is under the control of the rabbinate," explained Even, who became Israel's first openly gay member of Knesset in November 2002 when the left-wing Meretz party appointed him to replace a retired MK.

"I want Israel to recognize our Canadian marriage," said Even, 63, a Tel Aviv University chemistry professor and former nuclear physicist and colonel in the Israeli army.

Individual gay rights in Israel are enshrined in law. But Israel does not recognize same-sex couples, and Even and Kama, a 44-year-old communication theorist at Tel Aviv's Open University, will fight to change that regulation.

"My partner has no legal status," Even said in an interview two days after their wedding.

Low-key and soft-spoken, Even did not seek publicity for his case. Prior to flying to Toronto, he managed to get an appointment with his friend, Interior Minister Avraham Porat.

"I explained the situation to him before we left. I told him Israel is obliged to accept a Canadian marriage certificate. Porat told me I had handed him a ‘nuclear device' on a silver platter, and had to consult his staff. Then he told us we'd have to go to the Supreme Court."

Porat's cautious approach deeply disappointed him because Porat's party, Shinui, a member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's coalition government, supports gay rights across the board.

"Porat's attitude is a breach of promise," Even said.

The pair decided decided to get married after Hauer informed them they would have no problems in Toronto.

"I immediately seized the opportunity, even though we had to fly halfway around the world to do it," Even said.

Being an atheist, he did never considered following Hauer's example and submitting to a religious marriage performed by a rabbi.

"There are several Reform rabbis [in Toronto] who were prepared to marry us," he said.

Born in Haifa to eastern European immigrants who settled in Palestine before World War II, Even has been battling for gay rights since the early 1980s

A graduate of the Reali school and the Technion, he was a colonel in the reserves, specializing in military intelligence and analysis, when he was abruptly dismissed from the army in 1983.

"I was kicked out," he said.

During a routine security check, it was discovered that Even was living with a man.

"Sodomy laws were still in effect when I was serving in the army, and were only lifted in 1988. Even after that, there was a written order classifying gays as a security risk and thus barring them from certain ranks or units.

"That was the situation that allowed the army to demote me, remove my security clearance and remove me from my unit once they found out I was sharing my life with another man."

Even, who worked at Israel's nuclear reactor in Dimona until 1968, recounted his story to a Knesset committee on gay rights in 1993.

The prime minister of the day, Yitzhak Rabin, offered to reinstate Even to his rank as a colonel, but Even said he would not consider the offer until the persecution of gays in the military ended.

Shortly afterward, the army changed its rules and homosexuals were no longer subjected to unequal treatment in either recruitment and promotion.

"There is no discrimination in the military today in organizational and institutional terms, though this may not be true on an individual basis."

For Even, the current battleground is Israeli family law.

"Non-discrimination laws in the workplace exist, but same-sex couples are still not fully recognized as couples or family units. Many laws have to be rephrased to [acknowledge] gay families. I had to sue Tel Aviv University to receive spousal benefits for my partner. We won in court."

Eleven years ago, Even and Kama, who met on a beach, adopted Yossi, a 15-year-old -boy, as a foster child.

"We became his foster parents when he turned to us for help after coming out to his parents. When his home situation became unbearable, he moved in with us with his parents' consent."

Yossi, today a Tel Aviv advertising executive, has a boyfriend and they live together as a couple.

Even could easily empathize with Yossi. "When I told my parents I was gay, they sent me to a shrink, and rightly so. I was depressed after a love affair."

To Even's ever-lasting regret, his parents never accepted his sexual orientation. "On the other hand, Amit's family accepts us unconditionally."

Even tried to persuade Yossi to get married in Toronto, too, but he refused. "He said he was too young to be married."

Even's career in politics was short-lived, lasting for only several months.

"Orthodox religious parties were vehemently against me on-camera, but cordial off-camera," he said. "I was surprised they behaved so differently in public and private."

The only MKs who refused to ride elevators with him were from Shas, a religious party whose constituency consists mainly of poor Sephardim of North African origin.

Even, who lost his seat in last year's election, has no intention of running for the Knesset in the future.

"I'm not really a politician, but a scientist."

There are no openly gays in the Knesset today, but there are gay MKs, he said without elaborating.