Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Short on JQY


As a community we have (hopefully) come far enough to understand that some percentage of our esteemed bochurim (and bochurettes, that's for another time...) are going to come out of the closet. A fact of life that simply is what it is. What are the statistics these days? 1 in 10 men are gay? 1 in 30? Whichever it is, there's probably one guy in each yeshiva class that's gay. (Do not quote me on that.) They will grow up, struggle in dealing with it, and basically make a choice of what to do about it. Date girls? Come out and live as a confirmed bachelor? Stay in the closet and live as a confirmed bachelor? Go off the derech and meet some men? Stay on the derech and meet some men?? Lots to figure out... In any case, somewhere along the way they will probably cross paths with JQY (Jewish Queer Youth) where they can meet some like-minded individuals who finally freaken understand them. JQY members probably span an entire spectrum of Judaism, and range from those who decided to stay in, out, frum, not frum, etc.

One thing that IS in the best interest of JQY however is to shy away from statements such as "This is a great opportunity for all the progressive members to come and explain why reform is right and the tora is outdated." Whatever one wants to believe is ultimately their choice, if JQY is to be a haven for anyone struggling or proud its probably best to stay as neutral as possible. If any JQY staff reads this, please think about this. You guys work so hard to seek recognition in the community, if you keep these sentiments up to the individual to conclude if he so desires, you can (hopefully) be seen as a noted organization for the frum and no longer frum gay community. Statements that lack neutrality will only serve to drive a wedge between the frum community and JQY, turning off countless people who could have benefited greatly.

Short girl 1

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