Avichai Abarbanel, CEO of Havruta (Israel’s Religious Org for Gay Men), and his mom Hadassa Abarbanel speak about love and acceptance at this year’s Tiberias pride. “I’m here because I believe my family is real, that Avichai’s family and the one he will have is real. I’m here because I’m refusing to accept anyone cursing and harming my […]
The repressive anti-abortion laws passed in Alabama and Missouri are an assault on reproductive rights in the US. Many of the people affected are low-income women of color who have historically been disenfranchised in our country. And while there was positive news with the passage of the Equality Act, a bill that extends civil rights […]
Last Saturday morning, on the last day of Passover, anti-Semitic violence hit close to home when an armed, 19-year-old gunman opened fire at the Chabad Synagogue in Poway, Calif. Adding further pain to this tragedy is that fact that one of the injured, Noya Dohan, had moved with her family to San Diego from the […]
Family in Transition is a documentary directed by Ofir Trainin which follows a family in Nahariya, a small traditional town in Israel, whose lives change completely after their father finally decides to tell his family that she’s a transgender woman. “My main goal in making this film is to explore the life of this unique family, one […]
A Wider Bridge Board Member James Moon explores how AWB is uniquely positioned to confront anti-semitism. With my background, I imagine I am not the type of person that leaps immediately to mind when thinking of the stereotypical Zionist or an A Wider Bridge Board member. I am a secular Christian who grew up in a […]
For over 40 years, Israel’s LGBT* communities have waged some of the most effective fights for human and civil rights in Israel. Israeli activist Anit Nir examines key moments in this movement and looks at what’s next, including a run for MP as part of the Meretz party. 1975 – The Beginning In 1975, “The […]
In this op-ed, award-winning writer Perry Brass talks about his lifelong Zionism and the importance of A Wider Bridge. I am more of a Zionist than a Jew. I was born and grew up in Savannah, GA: Southern, Jewish, gay—and impoverished: an interesting hybridization of backgrounds. My father died when I was 11, leaving our […]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to respond to criticism over policy regarding Israel’s LGBTQ community, but avoided the subject of same-sex surrogacy rights in a letter to a Jewish organization last week. Massive LGBTQ Rights Protest in Tel Aviv, July 22, 2018 He was responding to a letter obtained by Haaretz and penned by LGBTQ […]
LGBT asylum seekers in Israel are one of the countries’ most ostracized groups, if not THE most ostracized. Eyal Migdalovich, founder of the Israeli LGBTQ Refugee and Asylum Seekers Program, writes about this at-risk population. Many asylum seekers and refugees kept their LGBT identity an absolute secret during their tough escape from Africa to Israel. […]
Rachel M. recently attended “Erev Kehila” a Jerusalem community event for religious families geared to parents and their LGBTQ children. She was moved to hear how parents quickly became advocates for their children. These are her reflections on the evening. “Parents of LGBTQ kids need to come out of the closet, too.” That sentence has […]