Queer Jews: The Struggle for Judaism’s Straight Soul

In times of social upheaval, how do observant Jewish communities decide who’s in and who’s out? What happens when rules of belonging are challenged by marginalized groups of Jews? This talk considers these questions through the experiences of queer orthodox Jews in Israel. Until recently, LGBTQ+ Orthodox Jews could not imagine embracing their sexual or gender identity and staying within the Orthodox fold. But within the span of about two decades, Orthodox LGBTQ+ people forged social circles and communities and became visible. This talk offers the compelling story of how they created an effective social movement and rewrote what it means to be Orthodox, pointing to broader lessons about Jewish identity and community to be drawn from their struggles.
 

Orit Avishai is a Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Fordham University, where she is affiliated with the Center for Jewish Studies. The author of Queer Judaism: LGBT Activism and the Remaking of Jewish Orthodoxy in Israel (2023), she studies how Orthodox Jews negotiate with Jewish frameworks that regulate gender, sexuality, and desire. As part of a study of religious freedom as a locus of 21st-century culture wars, she is now writing about Yeshiva University students’ attempts to start a pride club on their campus.

Cosponsors: Department of Anthropology, Department of Classical and Near Eastern Religions & Cultures, Department of Sociology, Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies at the University of St. Thomas