This story happened a few years ago
Being "Frum" and Gay
This weekend, the "Orthodox" Community at Penn (OCP) and JQYouth (JQY),
a group that provides support to LGBT "Orthodox" Jews
collaborated to develop a shabbaton aimed at addressing issues that gay
and lesbian Jews face within the "Orthodox" community. The shabbaton built
upon the format and ideas originally presented at the “Being Gay in the
Orthodox World” panel that was held at Yeshiva University
over all the Rosh Yeshivas objections this
December.
After morning services, "Rabbi" Friedman held a brief survey of
contemporary literature on homosexuality. Taking a "neutral" stance on the
issue, "Rabbi" Friedman reviewed responses spanning from Rav Moshe
Feinstein’s t’shuvah (response) stating that homosexuality reflects a
deliberate act of rebellion against God, to contemporary approaches of
"Rabbi" Chaim Rapoport and "Rav" Yuval Sherlo,
that go so far as to deal
with questions such as whether lesbian couples should wear hair
coverings and observe laws of ritual purity.
The events of the weekend were widely considered a success drawing
many people from diverse communities on campus. The event, according to
one of the organizers, Isaac Setton, was a "kiddush hashem" as many people
from many different backgrounds saw the "Orthodox" community coming
together in support of the LGBT community. The "Orthodox" Community at
Penn was able to organize and facilitate many discussions about the
future of "Orthodoxy" and "Orthodox" education. One participant remarked,
“
One day, the people being educated at this event will sit on the board
of shuls and schools and it will be up to them to make sure that when
this issue comes up it is not a shock and is dealt with properly.” The
people who attended the event were all glad they were provided with the
opportunity to engage with this issue.
(
From a "orthodox" lesbian website) highlights are additions they forgot to say
