In the recent editorial, “There are no Gay Jews” (Jan. 20-26), Mark Segal asserts that the creators of the National Museum of American Jewish History should “bow their heads in shame” for “discrimination by censorship” because “something was missing. LGBT.” Segal writes that the Museum made a “shameful” error because he “didn’t find those four letters anywhere in the museum.” We appreciate that Mr. Segal chose to visit the Museum with his nephew and, as an institution organized around the theme of freedom, fully agree that the “struggle for equality deserves to become a reality” for all Americans.
However, Mr. Segal’s assertion that the Museum “closeted” Jewish members of the LGBT community is inaccurate and misleading. It is not the Museum’s policy to identify those represented in the core exhibition by a particular sexual identity (or, for that matter, any other identity, such as denominational affiliation) unless that identity is specifically relevant to their story, as in the case of Harvey Milk. We believe that labeling people purely for the sake of putting them in some sort of “identity bucket” — be it religious, sexual or racial — would be disingenuous tokenism and an inappropriate interpretive strategy for a Museum. But that in no way means that we ignore America’s Jewish LGBT community or LGBT Jews who have embraced Jewish identities even as they challenged Jewish traditions and observances.
Our belief is that representation is not a matter of simply printing four letters on the wall, but of telling real human stories of struggle, advocacy and achievement. Allow us to offer some examples of how LGBT Jews are represented in the Museum. Not only is Harvey Milk featured in the Museum, but he is explicitly celebrated for his pioneering advocacy of gay rights. In addition, the Museum’s second floor notes that “the 1960s witnessed the birth of the gay rights movement to grant civil rights to homosexuals” and features a haggadah entitled “A New Haggadah: Jewish Lesbian Seder,” as well as the 2004 wedding of two Brooklyn women who committed to one another in a traditional Jewish wedding celebration. “By century’s end,” the exhibition continues, “diversity had become the hallmark of American Jewish life.”
The National Museum of American Jewish History explores Jewish life in America over the course of 350 years. It is a sprawling narrative that highlights the diverse backgrounds, expectations and experiences of Jews who made their homes in this nation and celebrates the freedoms that made it possible for Jewish — and all — Americans to flourish. By illuminating and celebrating Americans’ shared history and ongoing encounters with the blessings, challenges and responsibilities of freedom, we aim to inspire in Jews and all peoples a sense of community and shared values.
Like the nation in which we live, our Museum is an evolving, organic institution, and we expect the story we tell to evolve over time as well. We look forward to continuing to tell that evolving story and working side by side with the LGBT community to raise awareness of the stories we do tell in our exhibition and the important roles LGBT Jews have played in American and American Jewish life.
— Michael Rosenzweig, president and CEO; Ivy L. Barsky, Gwen Goodman museum director and COO; Josh Perelman, chief curator, director of exhibitions and collections National Museum of American Jewish History