Finding LGBT pride in Chanukah

By Ryan Torok for JewishJournal

 Fifteen years ago, Stephen Sass and his husband, Steven Hochstadt, consecrated their commitment to each other during a religious marriage ceremony that took place during Chanukah. The timing was intentional.

“Chanukah has always resonated deeply for me as a Jew and as a gay man, since it commemorates one of the earliest fights for freedom of conscience, and celebrates the right to be different and to express one’s individual and communal identity as a member of a minority group within larger society,” Sass said.

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For more great holiday ideas, visit our Hanukkah Holiday Spotlight Kit

First gay Jewish organization opens in Brussels

By JTA in Jpost.com

Group called “LGBT Jews in and around Brussels” now has 60 members.

Reform Jews in Brussels opened the city’s first gay Jewish organization.

The group’s inaugural meeting took place on October 18 and it now has 60 members, according to David Weis, one of the founders of the community, called “LGBT Jews in and around Brussels.”

LGBT is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender.

Two Progressive communities — a term which in Europe is applied to Reform and Conservative denominations — have pledged their support for the new group, which nonetheless operates as a separate entity both to the Beth Hillel congregation and to the International Jewish Center community.

“Our aim is also to build close links with Luxembourg Liberal Jewish community which has been very supportive as well,” Weiss said.

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Making Our Priorities Clear: The Rights of Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming People

By Tracy Wolf, URJ Blog from Nov. 5, 2015

Earlier today at the URJ Biennial, the Union for Reform Judaism passed a resolution on the rights of transgender and gender non-conforming people that affirms our commitment to the full equality, inclusion, and acceptance of people of all gender identities and gender expressions. It encourages our Reform institutions to use gender-neutral language, suggests training on issues of gender for religious school staff, and calls for advocacy on behalf of the transgender community. At this Biennial, we are also proud to launch our new congregational resource on transgender inclusion.

More than anything, the resolution affirms our Movement’s longtime commitment to LGBT equality and inclusion in our congregations and in our broader society.

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5 Reasons Being an Orthodox Rabbi Compelled Me to Support Gay Marriage

Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz For The Blog/Huffington Post

I am coming out of the closet. I am an Orthodox rabbi and an advocate for gay marriage.

The history of the theological issue is complicated, but the moral issue is increasingly clear. Faith leaders must stand as public allies; private support is no longer enough. Fifteen states and counting have formally approved marriage equality. It's time that traditional faith leaders stand for gay rights, including the right to marriage.

As an Orthodox Jew, I believe the Bible was given by G-d, that Jewish law is binding, and that change in our religious practice cannot happen impetuously. It also means that I take the pervasive biblical call for justice very seriously. I am pro-gay-rights because I am an Orthodox rabbi, not in spite of it.

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Coming Out & Combining Names

By Ailsa Wu  for MyJewishLearning.com
After 11 years of marriage, my wife Kate and I are finally going to change our last names.

I’m a little embarrassed it’s taken us so long. Like many couples, we discussed it during our wedding preparations. The obvious choice was hyphenating our surnames, but we also tried to brainstorm new ones. “Somerville,” where we live, sounded too British; “Chocolate,” a shared passion, too silly. And as much as we love bad puns, “HerWuMann” (combining her name, Hermann, with my name, Wu) was never going to work.

Our main concern was more serious: we hoped to adopt a child. We knew that our being a same-sex couple would make an expensive, time-consuming, and heartbreaking process even more difficult, especially if we looked overseas. But we’d heard of an approach similar to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, in which one half of a couple poses as single and straight; once back home, his/her partner then files for full joint adoption.

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