Tilde (~) in valid email address

[BM-2cTjsegDfZQNGQWUQjSwro6jrWLC9B3MN3 at bitmessage.ch]

When generating a uid for a key using gpg2 (2.0.25), and attempting to
input an email address containing a tilde (~), I receive an invalid
email error. There seems to be no way I can find to bypass this
restriction, and use my "invalid" email. 

Such characters can be used in i2bote addresses, and when managing
this i2p-based messaging service through a mail client like Thunderbird
or Claws-mail, it would be nice to be able to auto-select recipients and
keys via email address, and to be able to distribute my key with an
accurate email bound to it.

I realize this situation is currently limited to a rather small set of
users, though was wondering whether anyone knew how to force the use
of such an invalid email, or whether it is worth eliminating this
particular constraint on email formatting. 

Cheers and thanks,