Check out all the wonderful LGBTIQ sessions and presenters at @limmudoz in Melbourne this weekend: https://t.co/GUz4d75mgF
— Aleph Melbourne (@alephmelbourne) June 7, 2018
News articles
The first legal marriage of a Jewish same-sex couple in an Australian synagogue
Chutzpah – Australian Jewish Homosexual Movement – Feb & May 1975
With thanks to the Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives for the following two articles. [Source: Facebook, February 3 2018]
Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives
Chutzpah: Australian Jewish Homosexual Movement. Australian Jewish Homosexual Movement, Box 4 Wentworth Bldg, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2006. published: c1974- 75. frequency: monthly.1975: 3-7
Gen17 Initial Findings – LGBTIQ
The Gen17 Preliminary Findings indicate LGBTIQ people in the Jewish community are marginalised and lack acceptance.
The GEN17 Australian Jewish Community Survey – Preliminary Findings have been released and can be viewed here.
The preliminary findings offer no insight into the number of same-sex attracted or gender diverse people in the Jewish community.
They do identify that LGBTIQ people are a marginalised demographic that a small section of the community has concern for.
Hopefully subsequent analysis of the Gen17 data will offer greater insights in this area.
The following sections have been extracted from the report.
In One Voice 2018
Aleph Melbourne, the Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria and Keshet Austalia had a vibrant presence at In One Voice 2018.
Aleph Melbourne, the Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria and Keshet Austalia had a vibrant presence at In One Voice 2018.
The story of Dayenu Sydney’s participation in Mardi Gras
Source: ABC Radio National – Life Matters: Remembering 40 years of Mardi Gras
Over the past four decades, the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras has turned into a huge celebration, giving people the chance to celebrate their identities.
Jewish members of the LGBTI community have marched in the parade for years, but it wasn’t until the year 2000 that they decided to create a huge float to stand out from the crowd.
Dawn Cohen, one of the coordinators of the Jewish Pride float, remembers it as a “damn scary” time, but one she is proud to have been part of.
“It’s an incredible privilege to see social change, and to know I played a tiny little role in that,” she says.
“I feel so proud of the Australian Jewish community, the Australian gay community and of Australia itself. We bet our lives on you, and we won that bet.”
As Sydney gears up for today’s parade, listen to Dawn Cohen reflect on Jewish Pride.
Jewish contingent awarded “Most Fabulous” in 2018 Midsumma Pride March
It is with great delight we announce that Aleph Melbourne, together with the entire Jewish contingent participating in the 2018 Midsumma Pride March, is recipient of the “Most Fabulous” award (for the most fantastically frocked).
Groups registered in the award-winning Jewish contingent included Aleph Melbourne, Habonim Dror, Hashomer Hatzair, Jewish Lesbian Group of Victoria, Keshet Australia, Netzer Melbourne, Progressive Judaism Victoria and Temple Beth Israel.
Contributing to the success of the Jewish contingent were the visually spectacular placards from Temple Beth Israel and Aleph Melbourne, together with the booming sound truck “Barbra the Beaut Ute” and a range of technicolour banners, umbrellas, flags and fabulous community members.
The judges’ decision to select the Jewish contingent the “most fabulous” would have been especially difficult, given the many fabulous entries amongst the over 190 groups registered to march.
Aleph Melbourne is proud to represent a diverse, inclusive and most fabulous Jewish community.
A complete set of photograph of the Jewish contingent can be viewed here. Hi-resolution images are available on request from Michael Barnett (michael@aleph.org.au).
Submission to the Ruddock Religious Freedom Review
David Southwick 2015 statement on Keshet gaining JCCV membership
18 AUG 2015
MEMBER’S STATEMENT: JEWISH COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF VICTORIA
Mr SOUTHWICK — I would like also to congratulate the Jewish Community Council of Victoria (JCCV) for voting in its plenum on 3 August in support of the affiliation of Keshet Australia, JCCV’s first GLBTI affiliate. I wish to offer my sincere congratulations to JCCV members, including their president Jonathan Barnett, on this historic moment. This is the first time a GLBTI organisation has joined a Jewish community roof body in Australia and one of the few that has done so around the world. It is fitting that it happened on the JCCV’s — —
The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Angus) — Order! The member’s time has expired.
[ View on Hansard ]
1999 AJDS letter re Aleph Melbourne membership denied by JCCV
11 May, 1999
In a momentous and shameful vote of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, on Monday 10 May, the Jewish Gay support group, ALEPH was refused membership of the JCCV. It has been only a generation since Jews and Homosexuals were forced to wear badges of coloured cloth – how quickly we seem to forget that we are inseparably linked by a very common but tragic history.
The criteria for acceptance onto the JCCV – the roof body of Victorian Jewry are simple indeed: A Victorian Jewish organisation aiming to advance Jewish ideals for its membership.
In an unusual secret ballot, affiliate organisations including Synagogues, Sporting groups, Youth Organisations, Cultural, Political and Women’s groups were asked to vote after some months of debate. Many expressed their dismay that they were forced to vote against their consciences by their affiliates. History does not accept such lame excuses when what was required from our community representatives was compassion and understanding, not religious bigotry.
The meeting voted clearly on religious lines – with the Orthodox representatives vehemently rejecting the view that Jewish Gays have a legitimate place in the Community! This despite an impassioned plea by Dr Phillip Bliss, president of the JCCV for Aleph’s acceptance.
The week prior to this opprobrious vote, Aleph published in the AJN an impressive and impassioned plea for acceptance – only to be refused and have the door to the closet slammed in their faces once again!
I can only say how ashamed I feel to be part of such a community that has turned its back on our fellow Jews.
Perhaps wearing a Pink Triangle with a yellow Star of David on it as a symbol of solidarity will finally bring the message home to the bigoted minority.
David Zyngier
The Australian Jewish Democratic Society
Publicity Officer