This week I continue looking at religion and LGBT issues, today focusing on the Jewish community.
Jewish Voices for LGBT Rights
The Hidden Struggle of Queer Jewish Youth
Jewish LGBTI Youth
This video uses the initials LGBTI where the “I” may be unfamiliar. It stands for Intersex, which encompasses people that fall outside the male & female designations as we customarily understand them. The Intersex Society of North America and Planned Parenthood both provide a detailed overview.
Keshet: A Space for Young, Jewish & LGBT
Keshet is an organization working for the full equality of all LGBT Jews and our families in Jewish life. Founded in Boston in 1996, it now has Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. As its website expkains, “Keshet” is a Hebrew word meaning both “rainbow,” a symbol of LGBTQ pride, and “bow,” an instrument for action.
Being Jewish & Gay: Happy PRIDE!
Marion Haberman has a popular YouTube channel with almost 25,000 followers and a blog, both under the name “My Jewish Mommy Life.” She’s a proud LGBT supporter and posted this video for Pride Month 2020 where she interviewed Rabbi Mitchell Berkowitz of the B’nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, Maryland.
Gay and Jewish: Unapologetic
Gay Rabbi Comes Out of His Orthodox Closet
This video was produced by TheVJMovement, a collaboration of more than 150 professional video journalists from almost 100 countries. It reports that while “most interpretations of the Torah prohibit male homosexual intercourse, in Israel, growing numbers of the religious homosexual community are coming ‘out of closet.'”
Some Opinions About Gay People in Isreal
The Struggle in Israel
As everywhere, the struggle of the Jewish LGBT community is ongoing in Israel. The Associated Press reported on mass demonstration and prayer in Jerusalem in 2015 opposing a gay pride parade planned in the city. The AP posted this video.
In July 2018 the Associated Press reported that “Tens of thousands of Israeli LGBT advocates and their supporters went on strike across the country… protesting the exclusion of gay men from a recently passed surrogacy law.
“The community was outraged that although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to pass legislation supporting surrogacy for gay fathers, he voted against it, apparently under pressure from his ultra-Orthodox Jewish coalition partners.” AP posted this video.
Title image: Ruslan Kalnitsky / Shutterstock.com
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