Category: Jewish

Queer Sessions @ JIFF 2021

Jewish International Film Festival 2021
February 17 – March 24, 2021

Minyan

USA, 118 mins, dir. Eric Steel (English & Hebrew w/ English subtitles)

A young Russian Jewish immigrant in Brighton Beach, caught up in the tight constraints of his community, develops a close friendship with his grandfather’s new neighbours, two elderly closeted gay men who open his imagination to the possibilities of love and the realities of loss — and explores the East Village where he finds a world teeming with the energy of youth, desire and risk. Set in the late 1980s, as AIDS hammered New York City, Minyan is a powerful story of rebellion and self-discovery, sexual and spiritual awakening — and survival.

Shiva Baby

USA, 77 mins, dir. Emma Seligman (English)

The last person Danielle expects to run into at a family shiva is her sugar daddy Max, whose apartment she was coming from. Avoiding him – and his beautiful wife and baby – is impossible, as is keeping her nagging parents, prying family friends and angry ex-girlfriend Maya away. This sharp-witted dark comedy from first-time feature writer/director Emma Seligman is a quirky yet sensitive exploration of the pressure young people face today.

Forum: Change and Suppression Practices in the Jewish Community

UPCOMING EVENT

Forum: Change and Suppression Practices in the Jewish Community

A forum for our community to learn about the LGBTQA+ Change and Suppression (Conversion) Practices Bill that is before Victorian parliament.
Date And Time:Wed, 20 January 2021
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM AEDT

About this Event

Jewish Care invites you to a unique community forum to discuss LGBTQA+ conversion practices (sometimes called ‘conversion therapy’) and the current Change and Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill.

The forum is being co-hosted with the Brave Network, a survivor support and advocacy group, and SOGICE Survivors, a national advocacy and research group, and supported by Courage to Care, a national upstander education initiative of B’nai B’rith. The forum will provide our community an opportunity to learn about conversion practices, hear global and local research about prevalence and harm, and the journey that led to the development of the Victorian bill. It will outline the contents of the bill, but more importantly how the community can show support to both survivors of conversion practices and this bill being passed into law.

The event’s panel will include:

  • Rabbi Gersh Lazarow (he/him), Temple Beth Israel
  • Samuel Murray (he/they), Jewish Care Executive and LGBTI+ Liaison Officer
  • Patrick McIvor (he/him), Brave Network
  • Nathan Despott (he/they), Brave Network and SOGICE Survivors
  • Nicola Kolb (she/her), community member and survivor ally
  • Jarod Rhine-Davis (he/him), 2020 B’nai B’rith Changemaker Leadership Award recipient
  • Leah Boulton (she/her), Founder and Executive Officer, Pathways Melbourne. www.pathwaysmelbourne.org
  • Dr Gávi Ansara (he/him), Clinical Psychotherapist, Clinical Family Therapist, and founder of Rosh Pinah, An Affirming Orthodox Jewish Network

REGISTER NOW

 Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email.

The Zoom link for the event will be sent shortly before the event.

Woman of Valor (אשת חיל) – Mobile Film Festival Women’s Empowerment

From the Mobile Film Festival (1 Mobile, 1 Minute, 1 Film – Women’s Empowerment):

As a secular straight student at Jewish University, I have witnessed the struggle of the Orthodox Jewish LGBTQ community to gain recognition from the University. The natural tension between tradition and innovation arouses my curiosity, especially when there are those who suppose that some of our biblical heroes loved their same sex, like David and Jonathan. I wanted to touch on this ongoing conflict between faith and self expression. Is there another way by which we can live and let live?

Directed by: Lara Vosburgh
Country: United States of America

Leibler Yavneh College: Policy for The Wellbeing of LGBTI+ Students

Leibler-Yavneh-Colleges-Policy-for-the-Wellbeing-of-LGBTI-Students-Letter

[PDF]

Leibler Yavneh College: Policy for The Wellbeing of LGBTI+ Students

Leibler-Yavneh-College-The-Wellbeing-of-LGBTI-Students-Policy

[PDF]

itgetsbetter Live Chat with @abbychavastein ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

Aleph Melbourne launches 2020 Local Council Election Voters Guide

Aleph Melbourne launches its 2020 Local Council Elections Voters Guide

MEDIA RELEASE
5 OCTOBER 2020

ALEPH MELBOURNE LAUNCHES 2020 LOCAL COUNCIL ELECTION VOTERS GUIDE

Aleph Melbourne is proud to announce its 2020 Local Council Elections Voters Guide.  The Voters Guide is designed to inform voters living in councils with high Jewish populations how to best identify candidates for the 2020 Local Council Elections who have pledged to support and promote the efforts of local governments to foster a culture that is inclusive, responsive and accessible to LGBTIQA+ Victorians.

Links to the Aleph Melbourne 2020 Local Council Elections Voters Guide:

The Voters Guide is primarily based on the Victorian Pride Lobby‘s Rainbow Votes site which calls on candidates to campaign for and support:

  • Rainbow Tick accreditation for council-run services.
  • the establishment or continuation of an LGBTIQA+ advisory committee to council.
  • the development and implementation of a LGBTIQA+ action plan for council.
  • flying the rainbow flag from council buildings on LGBTIQA+ awareness days.
  • marching in Pride March or participating in Midsumma or local pride events.

Our guide contains the names of those candidates who have responded to the Rainbow Votes pledge in full, in part, or as a refusal. The guide will be reviewed and updated periodically.

We encourage voters to locate their voting ward, review their candidates’ levels of support for LGBTIQ issues and vote in a manner that prioritises LGBTIQ equality.

We also encourage voters to contact candidates directly if they require additional information not included in the Voters Guide.

The Aleph Melbourne 2020 Local Council Elections Voters Guide follows on from our 2013 Voters Guide to Marriage Equality in Jewish Melbourne, 2016 Voters Guide to Marriage Equality in Jewish Melbourne, 2018 Victorian State Election Voters Guide for LGBTIQ Equality and 2019 Voters Guide for LGBTIQ Equality.

ENDS

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Michael Barnett
0417-595-541
contact@aleph.org.au

Pathways Melbourne LGBTIQ+ meet-up group – JOY 94.9 interview

On September 17 2020 (5:43pm) Leah Boulton, founder of Pathways Melbourne, spoke on JOY 94.9‘s Drive program about a new confidential meet-up group for LGBTQIA+ people with life experience in Orthodox Judaism who want to talk about their sexuality, gender etc in a safe space.

Email Leah Boulton at leah@pathwaysmelbourne.org for more information, or visit www.pathwaysmelbourne.org/events.

“Growing up Queer” – Hayley Katzen and Roz Bellamy in conversation with Benjamin Law

Join Benjamin Law as he talks to fellow writers 𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗻 and 𝗥𝗼𝘇 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗺𝘆 about identity and the inspiration behind their writing.

𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝘄 is a celebrated author and journalist, and the editor of 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙐𝙥 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖. He is a columnist for Fairfax’s Good Weekend magazine, co-host of ABC RN’s weekly national pop culture show, Stop Everything, and frequently appears on the TV shows Q&A, The Drum and The Project. Benjamin’s memoir, The Family Law, about growing up gay and Asian in Australia, was adapted for SBS TV.

𝗥𝗼𝘇 𝗕𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗺𝘆 is a Melbourne-based writer, PhD candidate, editor at Archer Magazine and is in the process of completing a memoir about gender diversity, Jewish identity, and mental illness. Roz describes their experience attending a Modern Orthodox Jewish school as a queer and non-binary person in their essay ‘Binary School’ which appeared in the anthology 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙐𝙥 𝙌𝙪𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙖.

𝗛𝗮𝘆𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗞𝗮𝘁𝘇𝗲𝗻 migrated from South Africa to Australia in 1989. After a career as a law lecturer and researcher, Hayley studied acting, and wrote and produced a play about asylum seekers. In 2005, Hayley moved to her girlfriend’s cattle farm in the Australian bush and completed an MFA (Creative Writing). Hayley’s short-stories and essays have been published internationally. 𝙐𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 is her debut memoir.

𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝟭𝟰𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟴𝗽𝗺

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐉𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝗪𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎. 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐭 www.shalom.edu.au

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