Twenty-Five Years of Pride: My Journey as a Gay Reform Jew

By John E. Hirsch, Brought to you by RAC.org

As the site of this year’s 25th Annual Long Island Gay Pride Parade and Festival, Huntington, Long Island, was a bright, sunny, and joyful place on Saturday June 13th. My husband, Herb, and I led a 50-person Reform Jewish contingent in the parade, joined behind a Union for Reform Judaism banner by members of Temple Sinai in Roslyn, Temple Avodah in Oceanside, Temple Beth El in Huntington, and Temple Beth-El of Great Neck.

Complementing our presence in the parade was a beautiful, full-page color advertisement in The Pride Guide, whose signatories included 21 of Long Island’s 26 Reform congregations, as well as the National Association for Temple Administration, the North American Federation of Temple Youth, and the Women of Reform Judaism, all of whom unequivocally support the message that everyone can find a welcoming home in one of our synagogues. Indeed, Reform Judaism embraces all!

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She’s black, gay and soon you can call her ‘rabbi’

Lauren Markoe for Religion News Service

(RNS) Sandra Lawson, a former military police officer turned personal trainer, wasn’t religious about anything, except maybe fitness. She wasn’t looking to convert to Judaism or any other religion.

And she certainly never aspired to be one of the first — if not the first — black, openly lesbian rabbi.

But this spring Lawson finished her fourth year at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College outside Philadelphia with the help of an online GoFundMe campaign. She plans to marry her girlfriend and spend the fall semester in Israel. If all goes according to plan, she will celebrate her ordination in 2018.

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It’s Wedding Season!

By Keshet for MyJewishLearning.com

With so many positive steps towards marriage equality occurring throughout the country we thought we’d round up a few of our favorite gender neutral/same-sex traditions.

A Jewish Wedding Story: We love this G-dcast video of Margee and her partner’s traditional same-sex marriage. It was important to the couple to have a traditional Jewish wedding, and it took a lot of conversations to decide why and how to use traditional, Hebrew, religious language as a way to affirm their unique place in the Jewish community.

Queering Conventions —In Style: Buzzfeed has 11 ways to reinvent old wedding traditions with an LGBTQ twist. Our favorite? Their suggestion to get a new poem with “something old, something queer. Something borrowed, something dear.”

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My Son, My Hero

By Sharon Dunski Vermont for Keshet, as posted on MyJewishLearning.com

“Mom!” My sixteen year old son, Sage, announced excitedly to me at a Bat Mitzvah party this past weekend, a huge smile on his face. “The guy at the ice cream bar called me dude!”

“That’s amazing!” I exclaimed, hugging Sage. “I love you so much!” I whispered into his ear during our embrace.

My son is truly my hero.

In 1999, I gave birth to my first born child, a healthy and perfect beautiful baby girl. The moment I held her, I was filled with love and dreams; dreams of her first day of kindergarten, her first prom, her first kiss, her wedding day as she graced the chuppah in her flowing white dress. I knew my daughter’s future from the moment I met her. She was my mini me…or so I thought.

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June is LGBTQ Pride Month

Keshet

Your Jewish Guide for Celebrating LGBT Pride

Each June people across the world celebrate LGBTQ Pride. As LGBTQ Jews and allies, we are proud of our own identities and those of our loved ones. Whether you are looking for a Pride Shabbat service, a fabulous Jewish sign to hold in a Pride Parade, or just want some inspiration, you’ve come to the right place!

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