LGBTQ community must include pro-Israel voices
At last week’s LGBTQ event we saw how a claim of interconnectedness can be used as a wedge to drive us apart
Jewish billionaire donates $2M to Canadian transgender studies program
Aaron Devor, founder of the University of Victoria’s Transgender Archives, will be the inaugural chair of new program
LGBTQ Task Force reverses decision to ban Israeli event
“In reversing the decision today, we want to make it quite clear that the Creating Change Conference will always be a safe space for inclusion and dialogue for people with often widely different views”
U.S. gay group succumbs to anti-Israel pressure, cancels Israeli event
An event scheduled to be held at the national conference of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer activists that works to build connections with LGBTQ individuals and groups in Israel has been cancelled
Gay families in Israel face challenges: psychologist
Homophobia does exist in Israel, and life can be trying for same-sex families, says Israeli developmental psychologist Tirtsa Joels during a recent visit to Montreal
Member of prominent Chassidic family comes out as transgender
Stein said she hopes the Orthodox community becomes more accepting of transgender people and that her story will inspire transgender Orthodox teens
Meet the unofficial mayor of New York’s gay Jewish community
NEW YORK — It was nearly midnight Saturday, and Jayson Littman was milling about an upscale Manhattan nightclub greeting friends with a wide smile and often a big hug. Standing alongside a “shot boy” — clad only in underwear, a kippah and Star of David necklace — he offered partygoers shots of Manischewitz in plastic cups.
New program aims to make summer camps more inclusive
TORONTO — Summer camp can be a very gendered place, as well as one rife with sexual pressures, say Ayla Lefkowitz and Miriam Selick, co-founders of Canvas, a youth-led organization that offers arts-based programs on gender, sexuality, consent and body image.
“Camps, like any spaces, are so influenced by ideas of what’s expected of girls and boys,” Lefkowitz said.
COVER STORY: Parents’ silence can scar LGBTQ Jews
Years ago, at a particularly low point, Chaim Silver (not his real name) was so desperate to be straight that he ingested a white powder that a naturopath had sent to him by mail, claiming it had “cured” a lesbian of her same-sex desires.
“I actually took it,” Silver laughs over the phone. “It was before anthrax, before 9/11.”
Silver is modern Orthodox and came out to his parents when he was in his late 20s.
While they’ve never explicitly rejected him, he said their approach has always been, “We can fix this.”
COVER STORY: Celebrating Pride with my son
The temperature was already soaring first thing in the morning. We’d be heading out midday and there was no prospect of shade. It would be a huge crowd scene and take hours to navigate; it bore the potential for unpleasant confrontation, and where on earth would I park? Nothing about this was appealing in any way, shape or form. So, naturally, when my son invited me to attend the Gay Pride Parade with him, my immediate response was: “Of course.”
