Just in time for Harvey Milk Day (May 22) and Pride Month celebrations (June), Keshet has launched a really cool initiative: the LGBT Jewish Heroes poster series and a companion website, www.LGBTJewishHeroes.org. This project celebrates LGBT Jews who have transformed the world through their words and lives.
Harvey Milk, Kate Bornstein and Lesléa Newman are the first three subjects in this poster series of Jewish LGBT changemakers. They were chosen for their courage, vision and conviction to overcome homophobia and transphobia and make a lasting impact on the world.
Coming on the heels of the horrific spate of suicides among LGBT youth last fall, Idit Klein, Executive Director of Keshet noted, “Supporting LGBT youth means celebrating queer Jewish heroes. I want gay kids to walk into their day school and Hebrew school classrooms and see that their community is honoring LGBT Jewish visionaries. My hope is that seeing these posters of LGBT Jews will help young LGBT Jews and their friends and family never question their rightful place in the community.”
Stuart Milk, nephew of slain gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk, reflected: “My uncle would have seen great importance in the Jewish community honoring its LGBT heroes. Harvey has a profound global legacy that was shaped by his extraordinary courage in the LGBT community and his views shaped by the Milk ancestral family leadership within Jewish life, particularly the faith based work of his grandfather Morris, in promoting peace and acceptance. Both the LGBT and Jewish community share a core belief in establishing and protecting civil rights. Harvey would hope that the Jewish community’s leadership in recognizing its LGBT heroes will empower a new generation to care about and protect the civil rights of everyone without exception.”
LGBT Jews have made enormous contributions to American culture, society and politics. The posters will provide a way for kids and adults—whether LGBT or straight—to see and learn about who LGBT Jews are, what they have contributed to American and American Jewish life, and why their identities, as LGBT people and as Jews, matter.
Product Details:
Three, 18×24 posters. ($10/each, Set of three for $25)
Available at www.LGBTJewishHeroes.org
KESHET: Boston| Denver| San Francisco
Keshet is a national grassroots organization that works for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews in Jewish life. Led and supported by LGBT Jews and straight allies, Keshet offers resources, trainings, and technical assistance to create inclusive Jewish communities nationwide. www.keshetonline.org
Learn more about the LGBT Jewish Heroes project at www.LGBTJewishHeroes.org
Learn more about Harvey Milk Day at www.harveymilkday.co.