Supporting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex & Queer people in Melbourne's Jewish community. Founded 1995.
Francine Shadur was a memorable highlight of the 2019 and 2020 “Jews of Pride” contingents at the annual Midsumma Pride March.
Francine died in tragic circumstances on August 30 2022.
We celebrate her life in photos and video through her participation in “Jews of Pride”.
‘FANTASTIC SUPPORT’
By AJN STAFF
February 13, 2022, 10:00 am
The Jewish community was out in force at the annual Midsumma Pride March last Sunday. With crowds back to normal after the pandemic, there was rapturous applause for the 70 -strong Jews of Pride contingent, with everyone clapping and dancing along to the Jewish music.
Participating organisations included Aleph Melbourne, the Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria, Temple Beth Israel, Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair, Zionism Victoria, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV), Pathways Melbourne, SKIF and Temple Beth Israel.
Aleph co-convenor Michael Barnett told The AJN “I am heartened to see the fantastic support from Jewish youth groups, providing a safe and inclusive space for LGBTIQ+ people. We also have more parents and families of young people attending, crucial to the safe development of their children.”
The sentiment was echoed by regular participant, Naomi Barnett, who said it was her best ever Pride March yet, with so much enthusiasm from the sidelines for the Jewish presence.
JCCV vice president Doron Abramovici reflected, “It is a wonderful experience for all Jewish organisations to march together, as a unified group.
In 2018 the “Jews of Pride” contingent was awarded the “Most Fabulous” category in the Midsumma Pride March.
In 2022 “Jews of Pride” was awarded an Honourable Mention in the “Most Fabulous” category in the Midsumma Pride March:
Congratulations to winners, honourable mentions and all other groups.
MEDIA RELEASE
September 2 2021
Aleph Melbourne commends the Victorian Government, under the leadership of Premier Daniel Andrews, for its ongoing commitment to protecting all Victorians from hate, and for standing steadfastly strong with Jewish and LGBTIQ+ Victorians.
Along with making the public display of Nazi symbols illegal, we welcome the government’s commitment to extending anti-vilification protections to cover sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and HIV/AIDS status.
All too often homophobia is juxtaposed with antisemitism in wanton acts of hate, as evidenced by the attack on Cranbourne Golf Club last year[1] and the attack on the Gardiner’s Creek Trail in July this year[2].
It was with sadness that Aleph Melbourne’s submission to the Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections highlighted a litany of anti-LGBTIQ+ vilification emanating from within the Jewish community. We hope that these reforms will see the end of such intolerance, and allow those in our community who have been forced to live in the shadows to feel sufficiently empowered to come forward and live a more authentic life.
We are also grateful to David Southwick MP for inviting Aleph Melbourne to lodge a submission to the Inquiry, which the committee found most compelling.[3]
Michael Barnett
Co-convenor
Aleph Melbourne
CONTACT
michael@aleph.org.au
0417-595-541
RELATED MEDIA
ENDS
[From Trove and the Australian Jewish News]
Australian Jewish News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1935 – 1999), Friday 20 October 1995, page 23
Jackie Brygel talks to Tammi Faraday about how she reconciles her religious beliefs with her work on the Victorian AIDS Council.
AS A YOUNG Orthodox Jew working in a voluntary capacity for the Victorian AIDS Council, Tammi Faraday has often been forced to defend her job.
For the 20-year-old Leibler-Yavneh graduate, however, there is no conflict between her religion and her work.
“I have been asked how, as a religious Jew, I can work for an organisation that is condoning homosexuality,” she said, in an interview with the Australian Jewish News. “First of all, my position on homosexuality is absolutely inconsequential to the cause; Regardless of what I feel, it is not for me to judge.
“We talk of God and we talk of mercy and compassion and all these other things that people very easily forget. Ritualism is very important, but I think the essence of religion often gets lost.”
Ms Faraday said that homosexuality was “problematic” within the Torah. But by the same token, she added, the saving of a life is a fundamental precept in the Jewish religion.
“We should perpetuate that by helping people and by educating people. And it is not just gays who are affected (by AIDS).
“I think there is a syndrome in the Jewish community of being very judgmental. People should be embraced. Thank God, the incidence of AIDS is not huge within the Jewish community, but I don’t think that anybody has the right to disenfranchise a person or to make a person feel remote or ostracised. It is an issue that has to be dealt with.”’
Ms Faraday, who is currently studying law/arts at Monash University, has also been asked why she has not channelled her energies into Jewish causes. It is a question to which she has taken umbrage.
“To me, AIDS is a human cause,” she said. “It is a Jewish cause as much as any other cause. I am a very proud Jew who wears Judaism on my sleeve. But we are human and we are not immune to this disease.”
Ms Faraday first developed an interest in AIDS at the age of 14 when she read a book on a haemophiliac who had contracted the HIV infection through a blood transfusion. After spending eight months studying at the Hebrew University in Israel, she approached the Victorian AIDS Council in April this year.
Ms Faraday is now public relations officer for the Council’s Red Ribbon Project. Red ribbons, the international symbol for AIDS awareness, will be sold by shops, businesses and street sellers for World AIDS Day on December 1. All proceeds from the red ribbons go towards the support of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.
“I was very nervous to come back to Australia after living in Israel,” Ms Faraday said. “I had been very fulfilled there and all my senses had been on overload every minute of the day.
“When I came back, I wanted to throw myself into an organisation where I felt I could provide some expertise and do something positive to help others.”
Ms Faraday also believed there were many misconceptions about AIDS with many Australians still referring to it as the ‘gay plague’.
“That is not the case,” she said. “It’s a universal disease and it doesn’t discriminate. I felt that as someone who was Jewish and a woman and a minority in this organisation, I would be able to help universalise the issue.
“Now the figures show that AIDS is decreasing slowly in the gay population, but increasing substantially in the heterosexual population… Twenty million people have been infected with the (HIV) virus thus far around the world. It is the highest killer of 22 to 44-year old Americans. It is an epidemic we are facing.”
Ms Faraday conceded she initially felt like the “odd one out” at the Council, but quickly found her niche.
“The environment here is so warm, friendly, loving and supportive. It’s a wonderful environment to work in.
“I wanted to ensure I confronted the disease head-on and be knowledgeable about it so I was not prejudiced in any way, shape or form. Knowledge is the key.”
ajn-19951020-p23-HIVJune 14, 2021
James OSTROBURSKI, St Kilda East VIC 3183
For service to the community through charitable organisations.
Philanthropy
Melbourne Recital Centre
Dancehouse
The Arts
Other
Banking
James Ostroburski started his philanthropic journey at a young age when a sense of community and making an impact was instilled in him and says that his communal involvement is part of his day-to-day life, not something he does separately.
“I think that it is wonderful to be recognised for something I do out of love of community and it is very humbling. The Awards system is important because it recognises people who quietly, or otherwise, support the communities in their lives.
“I am somewhat surprised to be recognised at my age. It is a great way for other young Australians to see that they can make a difference now and not wait until they retire” he told J-Wire.
