Being pro-Israel at LGBT events has become difficult, LGBT Jewish leaders say, and at times the opposition to Israel has spilled over into making Jews feel uncomfortable about displaying their identity. For years, Laurie Grauer had waved a rainbow flag emblazoned with a Jewish star at the Chicago Dyke March, sometimes marching near activists waving […]
Four panelists shared their hard-won insights about the future of gender. Milton Diamond, a renowned professor and researcher on anatomy and human sexuality, once said, “Nature loves diversity; society hates it.” Diamond’s observation deepened an already thought-provoking panel on “The Future of Gender” that took place last week at the Jewish Community Centers of Greater […]
A panel discussion on the issues facing transgender individuals moderated by Idit Klein, executive director of Keshet will be held Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Boston. The panel will seek to explain just what gender means and how we relate to it within the context of today’s cultural […]
The Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly (GA) in Washington, D.C. is an annual conference of thousands of North American federation leaders, Jewish philanthropists, agencies and Jewish organizations like Keshet. Attendees travel to the GA to meet, learn, and work together in support of the Jewish community. This year, speakers include the Honorable Ruth […]
Keshet recently spoke with Raffi Freedman-Gurspan. Raffi, a Jewish woman, is the first openly transgender member of staff at the White House, and the White House’s Primary LGBT Liaison. Pictured: Raffi (center), with Keshet’s Idit Klein (left) and Joanna Ware (right). How has your Jewish identity and/or your Jewish values helped shape the course of […]
A decade ago, the movie ‘Hineini’ opened a discussion about LGBT issues in Jewish schools. Now educators say the situation has improved—although challenges remain. Shulamit Izen, the subject of ‘Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School’ (Photo courtesy of Keshet) It has been 10 years since the release of Hineini: Coming Out in a […]
Just when the LGBT community thinks it has taken another step toward full equality and inclusion, along come the Dennis Pragers of the world to remind us how far we still have to go. Our Torah is a living, breathing document, whose words and teachings can be understood and interpreted anew to reflect humankind’s limitless […]
Keshet, a national grassroots organization that works for full equality and inclusion of LGBT Jews in Jewish life, will honor the outgoing president of American Jewish World Service at its Glimmer gala Thursday, December 3 at 6 p.m. at Oasis, 298 11th Street in San Francisco. Ruth Messinger, the outgoing president of AJWS, will assume […]
Idit Klein of Keshet spoke in Massachusetts to the Jewish community’s interpretation of biblical texts regarding the LGBT community Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion in society is ethically mandated by Jewish textual tradition that exists in “a constant state of dialogue of reflection, of interpretation and reinterpretation,” argued Idit Klein, who serves as the […]
L’Chaim to marriage equality! Idit Klein, Executive Director of Keshet, writes on JTA: “I think of the road ahead in order to pass federal non-discrimination legislation that protects all people regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. I think of the even longer journey of cultural change following legal progress. I think about the role […]