Jewish teens from throughout the region will soon have a new safe space.
Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Greater Philadelphia is launching a gay/straight alliance to provide a multi-purposed outlet for LGBT youth and their allies.
The group will host its inaugural event, a screening of “Hineini,” from 4-6 p.m. April 15 at 7607 Old York Road in Elkins Park.
The film profiles a lesbian student’s efforts to establish a GSA at a Jewish high school in the Boston area.
Rabbi Elisa Goldberg, director of Jewish Community Services at JFCS, said the film screening will be used to bring together the core group of youth interested in joining the GSA.
From there, two rabbis — one of whom is a lesbian and the other who is an ally — will facilitate the group, although the youth will largely be in charge of its direction, Goldberg said.
“We want them to create the group they want,” she said. “We have ideas of what we want it to be, but we’re all of the mindset that we can give the kids who participate ideas about what they can do but we want to let them feel ownership over it. We imagine it being in part a support group, in part a social community, and it may even become an opportunity for the kids to do some activism in their own communities, but they’ll have a lot of say in that.”
Goldberg said organizers expect most members to be in the high-school age range, although membership is not limited.
JFCS also has counselors on staff who can connect with youth who need additional assistance.
The impetus for the GSA came when JFCS partnered with national LGBT Jewish organization Keshet last spring for a daylong LGBT-awareness program for local Jewish educators.
“From that, we got a sense of the needs of the community, and it became really apparent that we needed a place in the Jewish community where young people who identify as queer, as transgender or who believe in this as an important social issue, can come together,” she said. “In general when young Jews come out, a lot often leave the Jewish community because they don’t think it’s a welcoming space. So we want to educate the Jewish community and also create a space for young people to feel integrated.”
Youth interested in attending the screening or joining the group can email [email protected] or call 267-256-2075.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].
