Tagged transgender

They thought a Jewish school in Oakland would be able to accommodate their gender-fluid child. It wasn’t that simple.

Meg Keene and David Mishook said their son, left, was rejected from Oakland Hebrew Day School for being gender-fluid. (Kenzie Kate)
August 14, 2020 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — A Jewish day school in Oakland, California, is committing to making changes this week after a local family said the school had declined to accept their gender-fluid child. Meg Keene, an Oakland mother who runs a prominent wedding planning website, encouraged her thousands of Instagram followers to… Read more »

A Jewish group builds community for transgender and nonbinary teens

Moving Traditions' Tzelem group conducts its monthly meetings using video chat. (Lior Zaltzman)
October 22, 2018 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — Growing up, Devin Goldstein often felt alienated from Judaism. The 17-year-old recalls having to wear traditionally feminine outfits when the family attended synagogue. That was painful for Goldstein, who has since come out as transgender. “It meant I had to get dressed in clothes I… Read more »

Letter to Editor: Thankful JFSA hosted ‘The Connection’
July 13, 2018 /

Regarding the letter in the June 29 edition, “Connection doesn’t give women equal access,” I hope the Jewish Federation continues to host events like ‘The Connection.’ As a transgender Jewish woman, I am not always allowed to attend women’s events in the Orthodox world. When such events are held… Read more »

Summer camps open bunks to transgender Jews

Camp JRF has embraced inclusivity since its founding, with activities that rarely divide up the boys and the girls. (Courtesy of Camp JRF)
June 29, 2016 / Johanna Ginsberg

WHIPPANY, N.J. (New Jersey Jewish News via JTA) — Bathrooms accessible for transgender children and staff are old news at Camp JRF, the Reconstructionist movement’s summer camp in South Sterling, Pa. Five years ago the camp posted signs on bathroom doors stating “This bathroom may be used by any… Read more »

How a Jewish trans father inspired a hit series

Jill Soloway, writer and director of "Transparent," filming the second season of the show on set. (Courtesy of Amazon Studios)
December 1, 2015 / Curt Schleier, JTA

(JTA) — Writer and director Jill Soloway grew up in what she calls a “somewhat normalish, upper middle class Jewish household” in Chicago. Her mom was a public relations consultant (she worked for Mayor Jane Byrne) and her dad a psychiatrist. But she always sensed that “something was a… Read more »

Op-Ed: Reform movement will continue to push for transgender rights

Rabbi Tsipi Gabai blessing newly named transgender teen Tom Sosnik at Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito, Calif., March 13, 2015. (Misha Bruk)
November 24, 2015 / Barbara Weinstein, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — On Nov. 5, delegates to the Union for Reform Judaism’s 73rd biennial convention unanimously adopted a resolution on the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals. It was a moment of great pride and celebration, tempered by the knowledge that just two days earlier — and… Read more »

Joy Ladin’s journey between genders is grounded in Judaism
November 7, 2013 / Sheila Wilensky, AJP Associate Editor

Joy Ladin leads a full and productive life, but her path has not been easy. “Very early on, there was an awareness that I wasn’t in the right gender,” Ladin told the AJP from her home in Hadley, Mass. The first openly transgender person to work at an Orthodox… Read more »