June is Pride Month, Every Month is Jewish Pride Month
Lately, many Jews are feeling we stand alone, and often that is the case. End Jew Hatred Canada is reaching out to Jews and non-Jews to stand together. Jews have supported every progressive movement and now we want the same—unity! We must stand with our allies against hatred, but we won’t subjugate Jewish pride, Jewish rights or Jewish liberty to any cause. The image below (an updated version of the original lines from Pastor Neimoller, post WWII, was sent to CAEF in black and white and we show it knowing and being able to acknowledge the source, which we thank. We have added the colours to celebrate Pride Month.
Discrimination against LGBTQ Jews has been evident in progressive movements for a long time. It happened in Toronto for several years at the Pride Parade, where lies about Israel and Nazi symbols were present in the parade. This year an ad posted by the Chicago Dyke March for Pride depicted two burning flags, one American and one Israeli with a woman holding both atop messages of defund police and anti-Black racism—totally despicable. A Wider Bridge, the largest national Jewish LGBTQ organization produced a new version of their flag and posted it with this message #refusetochoose. One can celebrate being gay and being Jewish, no one need deny a part of his or her identity. Read below.
“During Pride rallies and marches, we at A Wider Bridge have proudly used a rainbow pride flag with a white Star of David. The pride flag has evolved to include inclusive colors. We didn’t want just to add on those missing colors and the star in a way that they could be removed, either practically and symbolically. So, we came up with our new inclusive Jewish pride flag. The original pride flag, the inclusive colors, and the star each stand for inseparable parts of our identities.
We cannot allow one to be removed just as we won’t be excluded from either the LGBTQ community or the Jewish community. For A Wider Bridge, our support for Israel is central to our Jewish identity and our LGBTQ identity.
We believe that when one part of the community is excluded, we are all left weaker and less vibrant. Doing so contradicts the very idea of inclusivity. We refuse to choose.
We refuse to prioritize and rank the multifaceted components of our identities. Here is our new flag, and we invite you to wave it proudly with us.” #WeRefuseToChoose
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