#lgbt Jews

[gay-jewish-bucky]

A high-quality edit of Keshet's Jewish Progress Pride Flag

[magnetothemagnificent]

Jewish organizations when something bad happens to LGBTQ people: *make posts of solidarity* *show up to protests* *gather donations*

Goyische LGBTQ organizations when a pogrom is carried out against Jews in real time: *crickets* (or worse, actively supporting the suffering of Jews)

[bsof-maarav]

Once during covid I zoomed into an event at my childhood shul. There was an older totally normie heterosexual married couple attending who had labeled themselves "The Goldstein Family* (they/them)" to indicate the plural...and to this day nothing is purer or funnier to me than this.

*not their actual name

[scrumpster]

LGBTQ+ Jewish Resources and Organizations

Happy Pride! Here's a few links I've collected to hopefully reach whoever in the Jewish community may need them. If you're considering donating a bit of money or volunteer time this Pride, please consider looking into these efforts (at your own discretion, as many of these may be local to specific areas). Please feel free to add on to this list, and any queer Jews reading are welcome to link their personal donation posts in the comments.

The SMQN, an organization for LGBTQ+ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews

Keshet, a group for LGBTQ+ Jews

JQY, a group for LGBTQ+ Jews with a focus on those in Orthodox communities

Queer Jews of Color Resource List (note: this list is way more than just resources, there’s a LOT of helpful stuff in here) JQ International: In their own words, "JQ celebrates the lives of LGBTQ+ Jews and their allies by transforming Jewish communities and ensuring inclusion through community building, educational programs, and support and wellness services, promoting the healthy integration of LGBTQ+ and Jewish identities."

Ritualwell (check out their blessings related to gender identity!) 

Guimel, an LGBTQ+ support group for the Jewish Community in Mexico. The site is in Spanish. I’m not a native speaker, but I was still able to read a little bit of it. 

SVARA: In their own words, “SVARA’s mission is to empower queer and trans people to expand Torah and tradition through the spiritual practice of Talmud study.”

TransTorah is definitely an older website, but there are still some miscellaneous pdfs and resources up on the “Resources” page.

SOJOURN: In their own words, "The Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender & Sexual Diversity (SOJOURN) is the American South's resource for Jewish & LGBTQ+ programming, education, support, and advocacy."

[fromgoy2joy]

The Jewish lesbians sharing sugared dates in a Tupperware bowl in the back of the minyan is a nonexistent romance cliche I never knew I needed.

[emotboyswag]

I’m yet to meet a convert to judaism who’s not transgender. There’s something so trans in the conversion soup. Does judaism not allow cis converts? Did I not know that?

[jewishautism]

Trans jews!! or lesbian jews (especially other trans lesbians) I want to follow you!!! i just need to follow more jewish queer people :D

[thejewitches]

Transphobia is Treyf Pride Pin | Limited Edition

[lowresolutioncryptid]

I’ve been seeing a lot of terfs deny the very clear link between trans exclusionism and nvzism/white supremacy simply because they do not understand the history behind it. ignorance is not a legitimate excuse to perpetuate systems of white supremacy. And it is further testament to the harm that banning critical race theory and queer studies in schools is doing to y’all’s brains. Because if I’m being completely honest, I’m seeing an alarming amount of self-identified terfs and radfems who are legit STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE. My blog is 18+, not for children, anyone under 18 gets immediately blocked. Anyway…

Transphobia and anti-blackness are historically linked and continue, to this day, to be overlapping forms of systemic oppression. Black trans women, specifically, have higher murder rates than any other group. Both trans and black people statistically face more medical discrimination than cis and white people, respectively. The combination of both of these marginalized identities forms a particular and very sinister intersection of oppression.

Not only do both of these systems of privilege work to uphold the social and structural power of cis people and white people.. biological essentialism and transphobia also, historically, were used to define the beliefs of white supremacy and race essentialism. Race essentialism is the false belief that it is “natural order” for whites to oppress other races. For centuries, white “philosophers” made up a whole list of pseudoscientific “reasons” WHY they believed racism was “natural”. One of them was the idea that “distinct and separate biological sexes were the mark of a more evolved race-“ meaning the white race.. they compared European patriarchal sex roles and gender roles to the matriarchal cultures and gender variance that they observed in communities of color.

I have seen terfs accuse people who bring up this historical fact of “masculinizing” black women and women of color, which is a very real issue, but in this case and with historical context, that is a misunderstanding and most of the time is being said by people who want to silence trans people and shut down any criticism of terfism.

Acknowledging the thousands of years of acceptance of gender variance and third/fourth gender categories within pre-colonial African, Indigenous, Latin, Asian, & Middle eastern cultures, is not to blame for the masculinization of women of color, and as a matter of fact: the invention and enforcement of Eurocentric gender roles REQUIRES and RELIES on the masculinization of women of color in order to uphold white women’s place within white supremist systems as the “ideal of femininity” that they can then weaponize against women of color when they do not adhere to those Eurocentric standards.

During times of enslavement and segregation, black women were forced, legally and socially, to conform to very strict Eurocentric femininity standards in order to avoid harassment and violence, and if they deviated from these norms and codes they were dehumanized, masculinized, and were “made into examples” of white femininity being “superior”. Gender roles and biological essentialism do not exist in a vacuum outside of the white supremist systems that they were created within and invented to maintain. To imply that all women share the same experiences within these systems is akin to saying “I don’t see color”.. it’s denying the lived experiences of people of color.

Most gays are familiar with the symbol of the pink triangle, the badge worn by LGBT victims of ww2 concentration camps, but the transgender victims are often overlooked..

“Hitler’s Nazi government, however, brutally targeted the trans community, deporting many trans people to concentration camps and wiping out vibrant community structures.” - Museum of Jewish Heritage.

The US holocaust memorial museum that holds remembrance vigils for the victims persecuted by the nazis, under the Obama administration, included both gay men and transgender people in their list of victims. However, under the Trump administration this was changed to only include gay men. When asked about this change one of the museum’s head curators responded that because trans people were viewed by the nazis as indistinguishable from gay men that they are “included” with the definition. This is an obvious cop-out. The other reason that they gave was that the term “transgender” was only officially coined in the 1980’s, despite the thriving population of German trans people and gender-nonconforming subcultures that pre-date the nazi control of Germany.

Ancient Judaism recognizes at least six (6) distinct sex categories and gender roles, our women fulfilling “traditionally masculine” roles and vice versa.. this is a direct threat and opposition to nazism which relies on Eurocentric patriarchal gender roles. White women serve one purpose within nazi ranks: BIOLOGICAL incubators for white babies. If you don’t have 1) European genetic material 2) biological capabilities of reproduction (vagina, womb, mammaries) to be exploited for domestic labor, you are not considered a “true” woman by nazis. “Woman” being defined within nazism by biological, reproductive traits is so eerily similar to terf’s definition of woman that the only explanation for still perpetuating these ideas that I can think of, other than apathy or being full blown nazis, would be ignorance and historical illiteracy. The systemic eradication and erasure of trans and gender-nonconforming people by the nazi party was essential in maintaining these standards at a structural level, as well as the reinforcement of these false beliefs within popular culture. In order to maintain that false image of “dominance” “supremacy”, they had to invent a subclass that was then deemed “inferior” by their own standards.

When trans people of color and trans Jews are explicitly telling y’all that the harmful rhetoric you spread about trans people has DIRECT historical links to white supremacy and nazism, and (whether intentionally or unintentionally) upholds these systems that are killing us, it’s not your place to dig your heels into the ground and come up with excuses. It’s your place to listen and reevaluate your views.

[gay-jewish-bucky]

To me, being trans is one of the most incredible blessings a human can receive from HaShem. From the moment we take our first breath, we are given the wondrous opportunity to mould ourselves b'tzelem Elohim–in the image of G-d. Every day we get to decide what b'tzelem Elohim means for us; we get to lovingly form ourselves like clay, every iteration a reflection of the Divine all on its own, into the image… the person that HaShem always knew we could become.

—G-J-B (Queer & Jewish Musings)

[magnetothemagnificent]

Instead of misrepresenting terms that were created to describe intersex variations and infertility (Six sexes, not genders), as queer Jews we should come up with new, inclusive terms that are inspired by the gender nonconformity and non-heteronormative people and ideas in Judaism, in the same way Native Americans came up with the modern word of "Two Spirit" as an umbrella term. Language is always evolving and we don't need to and shouldn't misgender and misrepresent intersex people to try and find words for ourselves.

I like the term "נברא בין השמשות" ("Nivrah Bein HaShmashot")-"Created between the suns", which refers to the concept in Midrash of the liminal time between the end of the Sixth Day of Creation and the Seventh Day of Creation. It is said that during this time certain important objects, creatures, and concepts were created. The entities created during this time mostly follow themes of not fitting into certain binaries and/or not being able to be fully explained or rationalized, hence they were created "Between the suns", because they did not fit neatly into one category or another.

I've talked about this idea before and how I relate it to my transness, and I think it would be a perfect umbrella term for Jews whose gender and/or sexuality is outside of societal cishetnormativity.

Another term I like is "עוברים" ("Ovrim") ("Those who cross over"). Jews are known as "עברים" because of how we stand out and may seem to be transgressive or rebellious when we cross over boundaries, and this shares a root with "עברים". The term melds Jewish identity with gender nonconformity and/or transitioning and sexuality that isn't heterosexual.

Or maybe we can come up with another term! But regardless, it's important that we don't misappropriate terms that were created to describe intersex people (who still face mountains of stigma and discrimination and shouldn't be silenced or spoken over by trans people). And anyway, I think it's far more meaningful and beautiful to come up with our own terms rather than misuse centuries old terms that never had us in mind.

The Queer Jewish community is a thriving, invaluable community, and we deserve to create and use our own words.

[malificandy]

[yenteleh]

I have such a complicated relationship with tznius.

I’ve spent a few years planning to pursue Orthodox conversion, but as I grew more confident in my identity, I realized that this lifestyle is not for me and that I’m not willing to compromise certain aspects of my identity to fit into this world.

Still, I’ve internalized some viewpoints and still have great appreciation for certain aspects of orthodox philosophy and theology. I’ve followed the traditional understanding of tznius on and off over the years but I’ve been very inconsistent with it. Part of the reason is that the on-and-off gender dysphoria I experience has made it uncomfortable to exercise modesty in a way that others would assume I should.

In my (masorti) community I only know one woman who dresses tznius, since it’s not such a central aspect of daily observance. If I wear skirts/dresses, it’s natural for me to go with midi/maxi length but that’s not such a common occurrence these days as I find myself with a somewhat androgynous presentation as a semi-out nonbinary person. Part of what draws me to tznius is that I want to be visibly religious and this is such a straightforward way that also fulfills a mitzva. I know that men have their own tznius guidelines as well, but I don’t identify as one and it wouldn’t feel like I’m doing much, if that makes sense?

All that to say is, how can I reconcile my gender nonconformity with my religious identity as a Jew-in-progress in terms of how I look? I’m eight months into the process and I feel I should have stuff like that already figured out.

[pickle-the-lad]

I started thinking about Muslim women, which made me start thinking about transness and religion...

Now I'm hyper fixating on religious justification for transitioning, but have no idea how to start researching this... so if anyone's interested, please info-dump on me about religion in an LGBT+ friendly way💖💕

I'm perfectly open to discussions about any part of the LGBT+/MOGAI community, but my main focus with this post is transness.

This is the one time I'm using a dni!

If you're NOT friendly and supportive and you reply, I will block you. If you're anti-religion, this is not the post for you.

[hero-israel]

I found an organization called the Indigenous Coalition for Israel, which looks pretty good, but it’s apparently an international Christian initiative according to the website. Should I distrust this as an Evangelical ploy or something?

Also, I learned about it from an article on Tablet, which is a pretty good Jewish news site generally but they often go a little crazy (they had one article about how evil the trans rights movement was from a token cis gay guy who I could find no other writing credits from so he might not even be real (the article is melodramatically called “The Great Transitioning”) and I watched a talk from one of papers’ leaders and he said because of antisemtism on campuses, Jews shouldn’t go to college)

Tablet is wildly, embarrassingly erratic. They've had a lot of good commentary from respectable authors like Matti Friedman, Dara Horn, and Phyllis Chesler, but they also platform absolute far-right wackos who insist Q is real, hydroxychloroquine is better than vaccines, and environmentalists are pussies. They did apologize for their "Harvey Weinstein is a particularly Jewish kind of rapist" article, but it is still on their site. Just this very week they published a propagandistic profile of RFK Jr. that went all-in on his anti-vaxxism. In like 2015-16 I was comfortable citing Tablet as a source in mixed company, but now I often hesitate. I'll sometimes still post their better articles here, but I usually first check to see if someone less crankish has covered the topic.

And that ambivalence is on-topic for the Indigenous Coalition for Israel, which seems to be a non-proselytizing, non-apocalyptic Christian / Maori philosemitic group based in New Zealand. I've seen a lot of their op-eds around, including in Israeli papers, and most of what they write about that topic is a good match for what I already believe. As a concept, it is very beneficial to counter the bullshit narrative that Jews are white colonizers, indigenous to nowhere, and that the fight against Zionism is the same as getting European rulers out of Vietnam and Zimbabwe and whatever. Unfortunately, their founder seems to be a TERF. I don't have the heart to search back much further through her Twitter feed for examples before the Posie Parker thing. Any concepts that ICFI articulated that happened to be positive and good for Jews and Zionism were already true before and regardless of ICFI's involvement. If they are not safe allies for LGBT Jews, we don't need to settle for them as allies at all.