Calling out discrimination
In the Aug. 6 issue of the Jewish Exponent, the newspaper of the Jewish community, a very brief mention was made of the murders of two young innocent gay Israelis who were brutally gunned down recently at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Tel Aviv. The mention comes on page 35 of the newspaper. For the record, that issue runs 43 pages long in total. To add insult to injury, the mention is placed next to the obituary section. What is particularly ironic about this placement is that the obituaries are the only section of the Jewish Exponent that even mentions our lifecycles. The Jewish Exponent has a stated policy of prohibiting gay and lesbian wedding announcements, “the holy grail of inclusion,” as well as gay personal ads from being placed in the paper. So the bottom line is that this so-called community newspaper will only recognize us in death but not in life.
I do not find it comforting or acceptable that we have visibility through random feature stories. Aren’t we all tired of just being a feature story or a photo-op? Isn’t it time to have full inclusion? So, I share with your readership my letter to the editor of the Jewish Exponent:
I was very disheartened and disgusted to read the only coverage of the vicious murders of two young gay Israelis who were brutally gunned down at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Tel Aviv on page 35 of the Jewish Exponent in your “News in Brief” section. This is certainly not news in brief and most definitely should not be relegated to the back section of this paper. This is a front-page story. Jews murdered by a terrorist — yes, that is front-page news. I guess it is appropriate for the Jewish Exponent to place this story next to the obituary section of the paper, as that is the only part of the paper that even recognizes us. To this day, some 15 years after being made aware of this issue, The Jewish Exponent still does not recognize the life cycles of gay and lesbian Jews including the “holy grail” of gay marriage/unions. We are only recognized in death. Like pariahs, we continue to be relegated to the back of the bus. This only promotes continued anger, frustration and despair among the gay and lesbian community and does nothing to bring us closer to the mainstream of Jewish life, let alone active donors to the Jewish Federation. Will the day ever come that the Jewish Exponent fully recognizes us as full citizens of the Jewish community? I continue to hold out hope, but that hope fades with each passing edition of this “community” paper.
Lee Rosenfield Lambertville, N.J.
Editor’s note: The Jewish Exponent printed a photo on page 3 depicting a memorial service for the Tel Aviv shooting victims held in Jerusalem’s Zion Square in its Aug. 13 issue; additionally, the paper published a story about the incident on the “Cover Page” section of its Web site, also dated Aug. 13. Executive editor Lisa Hostein said comments on the notices policy can be sent to [email protected], and will be directed to the board of directors, who set, and are planning to review, the policy.