Coming Out: It’s the Jewish Thing to Do

This month marks the occasions of Christmas and Hanukkah — and the two-year anniversary of the decision by the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards that homosexuality does not violate Jewish law. Although these three events may not seem related at first, I think that each one informs the other in meaningful ways.

Last things first. Two years after the CJLS decision, we can safely say that the sky has not fallen on the Conservative movement. On the contrary, with the enormous and energy-depleting distraction of the “gay issue” at last out of the way, the skies seem clearer than ever — or at least the clouds are more visible. With a new chancellor at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a new generation of young rabbis who are unafraid of voicing their views, the movement seems ready to address the more pressing issues it faces: declining affiliation, loss of meaning and a general lack of consensus about what the movement stands for. These are serious issues, but as anyone who has been around JTS lately can tell you, it’s a breath of fresh air that at last they can be tackled head-on. And the school’s first openly gay rabbinical student tells me he’s doing just fine, thanks.

The two-year non-anniversary of the sky falling also means a great deal for how all of us consider the relationship between sexuality and religion. For several years, the only question was, “Is being gay okay or not?” as if that’s the only one worth asking. But two years on, with the sky having not fallen and with people more or less over the gay issue, we can start asking more interesting ones, like, what do GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) people add to the Jewish community? In what ways does sexual diversity enrich all of our lives, whatever our sexual or gender identity? And, just like men can and should learn from women’s experiences, how can all of us learn from GLBT experiences of religion, psychology, power, love and all the rest of life? By way of example, and bringing me back to Hanukkah and Christmas, I want to focus on one aspect of that experience: coming out.

http://www.forward.com/articles/14690/

Please keep in mind that this article was written for a Jewish audience.