Coming out is one of the most awkward act that a member of the LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Intersex, and Ace) community will ever experience. Telling your family and friends that you aren’t the “norm” is simply terrifying. Questions fill the person's brain: Will they still love me? Will they still be proud of me? These are just few of the questions many youth and sometimes adults have to think about for just being themselves. When coming out to friends or family, you can talk to them and figure out their thoughts and reaction. However, what about coming out to your God or your religion? What about coming out to something you can’t see or talk to physically but they is just as important as coming out to your mom or dad or a close friend? When you are religious and queer one of the most unanswered questions is God, are you okay with me being me? The Jewish community has always been vague with views on being queer. The vagueness of a serious issue harms more than help. The Orthodox and Hasidic community use their power in Judaism to not address important Jewish LGBTQ+ issues, make sure there is little to no positive education about homosexuality, and it makes coming out in a Jewish community a hard experiences that often doesn’t happen.

To begin, social classes and hierarchies play a major role in the Jewish religion. Orthodox and Hasidic Jews (the most traditional Jews) are on top of the social pyramid thus having majority of the power. They control the Israeli government, and according to Forward News in the U.S they have cut public school funding for more funding towards private yeshiva (Jewish focused) schools. That being said, they also had the power to start their own police group called the Shomrim. The Orthodox part of Judaism has become the face of Judaism with there noticeable clothes and faces. The scary part is they know their power, they are well aware of the influence they can have on all Jews. Countless times the Hasidic and Orthodox Jews have used their popularity and numbers to enforce bias procedures. One example of this is the Orthodoxies association with  Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality (JONAH) the largest Jewish conversion therapy organization. An organization that one participate said made him recreate “traumatic sexual abuse from his childhood”  according to Forward News. One participant testified that they asked him to “beat a pillow effigy of his mother with a tennis racket until his hands bled, screaming ‘Mom!’ with each blow.” (Newsweek). Once JONAH was abolished in a lawsuit, there was no response from the Jewish community. An apology wasn’t necessary, because it wasn’t the Jewish community as a whole responsibility for JONAH just a few. However, the lack of education of JONAH in synogods is scary. The fact that no matter if you wouldn’t know how your religion felt about conversion therapy it was associated with is not right. From being “police”, to cutting public school fundings, to be unclear about their thoughts on conversion therapy. The Orthodox and Hasidic have so much influence and don’t use it for the greater good, especially for LGBTQ+ Jews.

Additionally, LGBTQ+ Jews have been oppressed due lines in important Jewish texts referring to homosexuality. Specifically, a line in Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a male as one lies with a woman, the two of them have done an abhorrent thing; they shall be put to death—their bloodguilt is upon them”. This line is well known and many religious leaders use this line for an argument against homosexaulity. Though there are many interpretations of this text, many times these interpretations are ignored or homosexuality is not talked about at all. Also, the history of Judaism has been very heteronormative. One of the most compelling pieces of evidence for this is in some of the most important Jewish literature such as the Mishnah. In the Mishnah there is an argument between Rabbi Judah and the Sages, “R. Judah said: A bachelor should not herd animals, nor should two bachelors share a single blanket. The Sages permit it.” The Halakhah (Jewish law) follows the Sages because the Talmud says, “Israel is not suspected of homosexuality.” The utter homophobia in these lines are quite clear. The Rabbi and Sages are comparing homosexuality to herding animals, implying that animals and homosexuals are not that different and that a man shall not be with a man. Another key point, is the line in the Talmud about Israel how Israel should “not be suspected of homosexuality” The line hints that Israelis should be ashamed or embarrassed if suspected that they live in a “gay” country. Though, the Mishnah and Talmud was written hundreds of years ago it’s important to know how it is still taught in hebrew schools. The Talmud, Torah, and Mishnah are all taught in Jewish School, and these homophobic lines from them are taught without mentioning that times are changing or any other interpretations. The effect of homophobia taught in Hebrew Schools and/or the lack of LGBTQ+ education makes kids wonder if they are normal or make kids act in homophobic patterns. Both can have severe consequences.

The most compelling evidence, about the oppression of LGBTQ+ is the stigma when coming out. It is rare that a rabbi will come out. Only in recent times have Conservative rabbis have been accepted for coming out. However, coming out still is frowned upon in the Orthodox and Hasidic movement. One of the most heartbreaking instances of this comes from a blog post by Abby Stein titled That Night I Cried With the Trans Rabbi From Brooklyn. Abby Stein is a transgender women who grew up in an Hasidic community. After years of feeling out of place and being told transgenders don't exist, she left the community, started transitioning, and became an activist for transgender rights. In her blog post she talks about the events after her coming out post, officially as a woman.

She writes about an Orthodox Rabbi contacting her in tears. They met and  “...we both unraveled our life experiences living with Gender Dysphoria, in a community that ignored our existence” (Abby Stein). There is so much sadness in this post, reading about someone who can’t be their true self because of some religious figures meeting someone who had to leave a religion just to transition. To emphasize, many queer Jews will end up marrying the sex they are not necessary attracted to and have children. An example of this according to The Atlantic happened to Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, a Rabbi at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. Rabbi Steinlauf wasn’t a 25 year old Rabbi coming out as gay. He was 60 years old. He was married to a woman named Batya and had three children with her. This scenario is not uncommon. These personal stories showcase the effect the Hasidic and Orthodox community have on the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ Jews, young and old.  

In short, the Hasidic and Orthodox movement have not been supportive to LGBTQ+ Jews. They have been vague on their views on homosexuality, taught homophobic texts in Hebrew Schools, and make coming out rough than allowing it to be liberating.  The Jewish community needs to do a better speaking up for the Jews that can’t. The Jews that are oppressed by the stigma against homosexuality and transgenders. As Abby Stein stated, “All I can say to the world as a whole, but especially to the Jewish/Orthodox world, is, WE ARE HERE, AND WE CAN USE SUPPORT”. Don’t bystand your own people be discriminated against, that’s the real sin...not homosexuality.

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