Click on the following videos to listen to interview excerpts. To enable Closed Captioning, please click on “CC” on bottom right corner of each video.
Hope Forstenzer: “queer culture in and of itself has its own set of rituals and holidays and cultural events and once you’re in it, you become that ahead of everything else”
Ira Rogers: “I haven’t experienced a non-acceptance or an outright bigotry or lack of inclusivity among the LGBTQ community toward Jews”
Dorothy Elias: “the big assumption that we’re all white and heterosexual and middle class… pervades points of views and ways of thinking… needs to be… identified and then chipped away at”
Jono Lerner: “I would love to see more of the mainstream queer communities show up to [Jewish] events… and say ‘the Jews of the queer community have a place in the queer community’”
Jaye Beer: “Not everything’s about Israel… not every Jew wants to talk about Israel. Even if we do, we should be heard… there’s just so much antisemitism”
Lauren Nackman: “Don’t tell me that you understand my Jewishness in the same way you wouldn’t want somebody to tell you they understand your queerness”
Glen Phillips: “a big step would be separating the religion from the country… Jews that live outside of Israel are not Israelis”
Avital Jarus Hakak: “It’s hard for me to say because I never experienced any conflict. I’ve been part of the [queer] Dragon Boat team for many years… my Jewishness was never raised”
SD Holman: “I have white skin privilege, but… I am not accepted as a white person… and I’m not POC. So we’re neither fish nor fowl”
David Keselman: “I think education… presence is important”
Aaron Devor: “There’s a whole lot of work that needs to be done there and it’s not going to happen anytime soon”
Reva Hutkin: “stop going on with… BDS … and this anti-Jewish stuff”
Julie Elizabeth: “I haven’t experienced any non welcoming-ness there so I can’t say. The people I hang out with are all accepting and my community is pretty small”
Lisa Weiner: “I’m such a turtler under a rock that the only experience that I personally have had is an accepting group… and that happens to be my chosen circle of friends, which are the Klezbians”
Lily Hoenig: “a lot of people have preconceptions… the first thing that they need to do is starting understanding who the Jewish community is… needs… and where we can find common ground”
Susan Dempsey: “all these queer folks… have events… but I don’t really see any Jewishness there”
Shira Macklin: “I think everyone should be inclusive of Jews, not just LGBT people”
Alan Stamp: “people aren’t going to change their thinking just by watching a video clip”
Marsha Ablowitz: “if there was going to be a focus, it would be good for young people and… in old folks homes”
Marc Gelmon: “Some members can be kind of militant… and start to get involved with the politics of Israel… we have to separate that we’re part of this community here in Vancouver”
Syd Lapan: “I’m very grateful for organizations like [JQT], in that I can bring… all three big parts because female, lesbian, Jew… Please, please keep going!”
To continue with the online exhibit, please click below on Queering Jewish Organizations.
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