Aleph Melbourne

Ban Nazi Swastikas, Protect Queer People From Hate Crimes, Recommends Inquiry | Star Observer

Ban Nazi Swastikas, Protect Queer People From Hate Crimes, Recommends Inquiry

Inquiry into Anti-Vilification Protections

In addition to commentary on race, religion and ethnicity, the Committee also heard evidence that disproportionately negative media commentary has serious consequences for various other groups, such as the LGBTIQ community. For example, in its submission, Aleph Melbourne stated:

Since 2001 there have been numerous hateful and vilifying attacks on LGBTIQ+ people in print and social media, originating in or closely connected to Melbourne’s Jewish community. Had such attacks been anti‑Semitic in nature it is likely there would have been justified outrage from the Jewish community and attempts made to seek legal remedy under anti‑vilification legislation. At present there is no equivalent protection available for attacks on LGBTIQ+ people.⁶⁴

202103-Inquiry-into-Anti-vilification-Protections

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ECAJ submission: Inquiry into matters relating to extremist movements and radicalism in Australia

Executive Council of Australian Jewry – Submission – Inquiry into matters relating to extremist movements and radicalism in Australia

Recommendation 6
6.1 Adapt school curricula across the disciplines from years K-12 to include:

in primary school, the development of a respectful understanding and de-stigmatising of difference (eg race, religion, disability)
from Year 7 in high school, addressing specific forms of racism and bigotry eg anti-Jewish, anti-Indigenous, anti-Muslim, anti-Asian, anti-LGBTIQ; and teaching students to self-reflect about their own prejudices
from Year 10, focusing on the destructive effects of racism and bigotry both in Australia and in other parts of the world, both historically and in contemporary society
in Years 11-12, reinforcing those themes in more depth in optional subjects.

20210212-ECAJ-Submission-Inquiry-into-matters-relating-to-extremist-movements-and-radicalism-in-Australia

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Eytan Fox showcase at 2021 Mardi Gras Film Festival

The 28th Queer Screen – Mardi Gras Film Festival (18 Feb – 4 Mar) kicks off soon! Select films are screening online, available nationally for the first time.

This year, the festival is excited to have the Director Focus showcasing the works of Israeli filmmaker Eytan Fox.

Screening is his latest film Sublet, alongside three retrospective works Yossi & Jagger, The Bubble and Time Off.

Eytan Fox – Yossi & Jagger
Eytan Fox – Time Off
Eytan Fox – The Bubble
Eytan Fox – Sublet

‘A debt of gratitude’: Survivor win in new Vic conversion law | Pink Advocate

‘A debt of gratitude’: Survivor win in new Vic conversion law

PRESS RELEASE: Jewish Care Victoria Welcomes Legislative Ban on Harmful LGBTI+ Conversion Practices

2021-MEDIA-RELEASE-Jewish-Care-Victoria-Welcomes-Legislative-Ban-on-Harmful-LGBIT-Conversion-Practices-FINAL

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Media Release: Aleph Melbourne welcomes Victorian Government protections against conversion practices

MEDIA RELEASE
FEBRUARY 7 2021
ALEPH MELBOURNE WELCOMES VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT PROTECTIONS AGAINST CONVERSION PRACTICES

Aleph Melbourne welcomes the passage of the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill 2020 and congratulates the Victorian Government for their unflinching support in this journey.

Many same-sex attracted and gender diverse Jews have been victims of disreputable people and organisations within and beyond the Jewish community who have performed destructive conversion practices, often with long-lasting negative or even fatal consequences.

This legislation sends a clear message that no longer is it acceptable or legal to tell someone they are broken because of their gender identity or sexual orientation and then attempt to make the person conform to an unnatural identity.

Knowing our state government, under the capable leadership of Premier Daniel Andrews, has taken this issue seriously proves it cares about the well-being of people with diverse sexual and gender identities.

Victoria has set a high bar on this important issue, and we hope that other states around Australia are motivated to tighten their laws similarly.

We acknowledge the tireless dedication of the Brave Network, SOGICE Survivors, Jewish Care, the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Just Equal and Equality Australia, together with the many individuals and networks who have helped in bringing about this visionary change.

END

CONTACT
Michael Barnett – Co-convenor
0417-595-541
michael@aleph.org.au

Aleph Melbourne disgusted by Australia Day 2021 honour awarded to Margaret Court

The Council for the Order of Australia should hang its collective head in shame for honouring Margaret Court, a purveyor of bigotry.

MEDIA RELEASE
JANUARY 26 2021
ALEPH MELBOURNE DISGUSTED BY
AUSTRALIA DAY HONOUR AWARDED TO MARGARET COURT

The Australia Day 2021 Honour bestowed to Margaret Court “for eminent service to tennis as an internationally acclaimed player and record-holding grand slam champion, and as a mentor of young sportspersons” flies in the face of good taste and decency.

As an organisation representing Jewish LGBTIQ+ people we have been doubly impacted by Margaret Court’s incessant demonisation, with her comparison of the work done to protect LGBTIQ+ children to what Adolf Hitler did, and her rabid transphobia and homophobia.

Margaret Court may be capable when it comes to mentoring in tennis, but as a community leader she is a danger to impressionable young people by telling those who are LGBTIQ+ that they are the work of the devil and making them feel bad about themselves.

The Council for the Order of Australia should hang its collective head in shame for honouring a purveyor of bigotry.

END.

Contact
Michael Barnett – Co-convenor
contact@aleph.org.au
0417-595-541

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

Once you register, you will receive a confirmation email.

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

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