This June marks the second National Pride Month in the United States, as citizens across the country take a moment to stop and honor the struggles and triumphs of the LGBT civil rights movement. For those who might be interested in learning more about the adversity and hardships faced by the LGBT community, North Atlantic Books has two anthologies that will definitely pique your interest: Balancing on the Mechitza, edited by Noach Dzmura, and Keep Your Wives Away from Them, edited by Miryam Kabakov.
The month of June is particularly significant to members of the LGBT community because of the events that transpired in June of 1969. That month, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a prominent gay bar in New York City. Raids such as these were all too common for gay bars in the 1960s, but in this case, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn decided to resist police harassment. This event started what became known as the Stonewall Riots, and is regarded as the beginning of the LGBT civil rights movement. Pride Month is an opportunity to reflect on how far the LGBT community has come since the police raids of the 1960s, as well as an opportunity to honor everyone who has crusaded against inequality. This pride month, in addition to celebrating the triumphs of the LGBT civil rights movement, many will be contemplating the battles that have yet to be won–the repeals of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the Defense of Marriage Act, and California’s Proposition 8. So while Pride Month is certainly a celebratory event, the fights that have yet to be won serve as constant reminders that the war against inequality is not over.
The first book that addresses LGBT issues is Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in the Jewish Community. Noach Dzmura’s anthology contains first-person accounts of transgender and non-transgender men and women who have integrated their sexual identities with their Orthodox Jewish lifestyles. Balancing on the Mechitza gives a voice to the increasingly visible community of Jewish transmen and transwomen.
The next book, Keep Your Wives Away from Them: Orthodox Women, Unorthodox Desires, edited by Miryam Kabakov, tells the stories of fourteen LBTQ women who sought to maintain a balance between their sexual identities and their faith. Contributors to the book show that it is possible to maintain religious tradition without forgoing one’s gender and sexual identity. Much like Balancing on the Mechitza, Keep Your Wives Away from Them gives a voice to a community that too often goes unheard.
For more information regarding the declaration of National Pride Month, check out this article from Examiner.com.
Those who are especially curious about Miryam Kabakov or Keep Your Wives Away from Them should check out this event featuring her book, held in St. Paul, MN!
The war against inequality is definitely not over. My new non-fiction/inspirational book, “INCITE—a true story of two men betrayed by their adopted children and tortured for a crime they did not commit,” tells the saga from a prison perspective. My partner and I were incarcerated for nine months in 2008 while awaiting trial. Being gay and in prison was like reliving Stonewall in the 60s. The stage is set with disloyalty and devotion, despair and expectancy, cruelty and compassion, courage and uncertainty. This chronicle of transcendence reveals insight on diversity, judgment, forgiveness, acceptance and personal choice.