My apologies - I’ve been struggling to find time to blog, even though my experiences and
thoughts regarding my blog have been ongoing. I have much to write about, and I
am planning on sharing everything scattered over the next few weeks.
I’m going to start with an event that occurred at UMD
in February. I helped organized a JQY (www.jqyouth.org)
shabbaton at Maryland. Ten JQY members came down to campus for the shabbaton,
which included three panels over the course of the weekend. On Friday night,
there was a panel about “growing up frum and gay: personal narratives and
Q&A.” Shabbat day included a panel titled “Orthodoxy and Homosexuality:
Halacha, Community, and the Future.” Lastly, during the evening on Saturday, a
final panel took place, covering issues regarding gender-identity and gender
non-conformity in orthodoxy.
All in all, it was a very successful weekend. The JQY members
really enjoyed the warmth and impressiveness of Maryland’s orthodox community. Additionally,
the community really appreciated the panels and sharing that the JQY members
did. They were greeted positively and with open arms.
JQY has done a similar shabbatonim at other
Universities across America, and each one is important. For a lot of the
orthodox Jews that attend secular Universities, their respective college campuses
are the first exposure many of them have outside of their orthodox bubbles. It
was for me and many students like me.
Through these panels and shabbatonim, JQY does two
things: Firstly, and most important, they are able to impart the knowledge and
awareness of the existence of homosexuality to the general student body within
in the orthodox community on both a personal and objective level.
Secondly, JQY brings awareness to those few students
who may be questioning their sexuality. For these students in particular, they
may have never known that a community of orthodox, gay Jews exists. They may
have suffered emotionally and/or felt restricted by their community. By hearing
these panels and hearing the stories of several gay, orthodox individuals, some
of the students learn that they are not alone; they learn that gay, orthodox
Jews exist, and that they can take the necessary steps they desire to take that
they may not have had the courage to take before.
There was an article written about the Friday night
panel in The Mitzpeh, the Jewish newspaper
of UMD.
**disclaimer: there were more than 75 people at the
panel. Additionally, I feel that a lot of important information was omitted
from the article**
http://www.mitzpeh.com/news/lgbt-issues-at-umd-1.2809048#.T3CK9-yXSCg
