Posts in : Category: Ketubah | Page 5 | Gay Ketubahs
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by JordanNo comments yet
Exciting news out of Israel: the government is coming one step closer to legalizing gay marriage.
Here at BGL Ketubahs, we thought this was a century away, but the word is — luckily — changing much faster than we ever imagined.
A new bill in the Knesset is proposing creating civil marriage in Israel (up until now, Israel has only had religious marriage) — and the civil marriage right would be extended to same sex couples as well.
As the article says,
The Yesh Atid faction presented a bill on Tuesday that seeks to legalize, for the first time, non-religious marriage in Israel. Currently, all Israeli marriages are legally valid only if they are conducted in formal state religious institutions, whether through the Jewish rabbinate, Muslim sharia institutions, Catholic canon courts or a handful of other recognized, state-funded religious denominations.
Hopefully, the bill will pass! Fingers crossed!
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by Jordan
Well we already love the windy city, and although most of us are born and raised New Yorkers, we don’t haaaate The Chicago Cubs (The Yankees are just better, duh). So you would imagine all of our excitement on Wednesday when we see that Illinois has officially become the 16th State to allow gay marriage! This bill was signed and sealed by Governor Patt Quinn, and as the Chicago Tribune eloquently states “capping a 40-year push for gay rights that picked up major momentum during the past decade.” [Read the article here.]
There is nothing more EXCITING in our office than when we see a new state blazing the way for Same-Sex couples and pushing for equal rights. Congrats, Congrats, Congrats to all the same-sex couples in Illinois! We would be more than honored to create a Ketubah for any of you. (Pssst! Check out our Chicago Subway Ketubah!!)
In honor of Illinois we’re going to celebrate with a deep-dish pizza (kosher style of course)!
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by Jordan
World-changing, crazy news: Paul Abdul had a Bat Mitzvah in Israel.
But here’s the craziest part: who even knew that Paula Abdul was Jewish??????
Here at BGL Ketubahs, we absolutely LOVE Paula Abdul and play her music all the time! And we’re psyched to discover that she’s also a member of the tribe!
(Sorry, no gay ketubah news today, folks!)
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by Jordan
Nothing to do with Gay Ketubahs today, folks. But this is worthy:
Breaking news: National Knish Shortage.
A fire in the main knish factory has led to a shortage!
Oh no, oh no!
Emergency! Emergency!
How will we get by?
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by Jordan
The NY Times is finally catching up to reality! They have an article about religious gay weddings here, in which they discuss how more and more rabbis are willing to perform gay, interfaith weddings.
As the article says,
“I have absolutely observed that increasing phenomenon over the years,” said Idit Klein, the executive director of Keshet, an advocacy organization for Jews who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. “I’ve seen it go from being difficult to find a rabbi to officiate at same-sex weddings to now having rabbis call me and say, ‘I’ve never done a gay wedding and I want to’ — a real eagerness to show solidarity. Something profound has shifted.”
We were very happy to see this attention to our cause! And we’re happy that the famous “Gray Lady” herself is starting to notice the changes happening.
Here at Bagel Ketubahs, we happily create ketubahs for gay and interfaith and both weddings! And we’ve been doing it long before it became “cool” in the Times!
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by Jordan
It almost seems like a parody, but it isn’t: the German Gay Counsel, Rolf Schuette, has reached out to the Jews, to work with us to improve our relationship.
This is funny on a few levels.
First, by being gay, we embody (embody!) the notion of “the other”. But for Jews, what is the most extreme “other” if not the Germans? The two others coming together is wonderful, just beautiful.
It’s also curious because, the German government is clearly still looking for better ways to reach out to and connect with Jews. And it makes sense that LGBT Jews would be much more likely to connect with Germans than straight Jews.
The levels of irony make me want to laugh: I love it when irony builds on irony!
Read more about it here.
(Sorry, this isn’t Ketubah related today!)
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by Jordan
Wow, I can’t believe I didn’t know about Frum Gay Girl until just now. It’s my new favorite blog. That might be an exaggeration — but only a slight one.
FGG profiled a woman who has been married for 25 years with dozens of children and grandchildren. But she has these intense and heartbreaking stories about her experience in the closet. She told her daughter — who stopped talking to her. I can’t even imagine the emotional pain.
But the blog, beyond this one story, is also wonderful. My favorite post of hers is, Satmar Lesbian Love Story. It’s her newest post and how I discovered her blog — but it’s powerful. It’s similar to so many stories I hear.
Frum Gary Girl… we love you and support you!
Team BGL
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by Jordan
The Minnesota Jewish Theater is now performing a new play by Jon Maran, A Strange and Separate People.
What is it about? What else other than an emotionally-struggling Gay, Orthodox Jewish Doctor.
The Star Tribune reviews it and has some good comments:
He makes intriguing connections, like drawing parallels between different kinds of closets: hiding one’s gayness, being embarrassed to wear a yarmulke in public, and trying to keep secret an autistic child. The play gives all these tangled issues a strong emotional grounding.
Sound interesting? Stop by Minnesota and see it! As if it were that easy ;)
Although this isn’t directly related to Ketubahs, we’re very happy to see the plight of Gay Orthodox Jews get more prominence every day!
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by Jordan
Today’s post also won’t be directly about ketubahs or gay ketubahs. But it will be about same sex Jews:
I was very happy to read
this wonderful article, although its author is anonymous. This modern orthodox man’s daughter came out as a lesbian to him — and he accepted her completely and thoroughly.He also makes the interesting observation that the Torah forbids same-sex male relationships, but makes no mention of same-sex female relationships (although the orthodox rabbis historically forbid it).
He then documents how, despite his modern orthodox life and lifestyle, he has very modern (and gay-friendly!) views on sexuality. He just doesn’t know how to bring it out to his orthodox world.
Reading this, I’m happier every day that the world is more and more accepting of LGBT Jews.
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by Jordan
This is the most exciting, even exhilarating, article I’ve read all week: A New Hope for Gay Orthodox Jews.
This article surveys all of the changes taking place to support the LGBT community within the orthodox community.
Usually, we hear about support for gay, lesbian, same-sex and transgender Jews from the reformed and sometimes conservative Jewish corners. But rarely from the orthodox side. This article is a welcome relief.
An example of a great point they make:
This year, the leading American Orthodox rabbinic organization, the Rabbinic Council of America (RCA), finally rejected reparative therapy. Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, urged the Orthodox world to tone down its strident rhetoric on homosexuality. A young Orthodox rabbi, Shmuly Yanklowitz, publicly identified himself as an LGBT ally, and Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of Los Angeles wrote that, given that homosexuality is likely a “feature of the human condition,” gay people “should not any longer have to pay the psychological, emotional and even physical price for our theological comfort.”
You can read more about it here. PS: sorry, no ketubah commentary today!
