From the incredible S Bear Bergman:

“I'll keep this short: we have amazing books being worked on right now for the 2019 season. A non-binary kid goes to space and meets great and gracious planets (see above!), a trans boy works so hard to be good at sports and discovers it doesn't matter that he really isn't, kids of divorced parents create a beautiful synergy between their households, student leaders introduce their parents and friends to animals whose bodies and mating patterns are queer, trans, and intersex, Hawaiian kids teach and learn about colors while their older brother gives them breakfast, and a slate of tremendous poets create power poems to help children find their power.

Don't you want these amazing books?

We can't make them without your pre-orders.  We need to find 450 more people to order sets of books — which is both not that many and a whole lot — by December 30th or the Kickstarter fails and we get $0. There will be no more Flamingo Rampant books. Schools and libraries absolutely cannot order books until they exist, so we need you to do at least one of three things:

-Pre-order a set of books for your home or office. They will arrive to your home in the summer, and they will be delightful.

-Pre-order a set of books to donate. You don’t even have to donate them yourself! When the books are ready, if you don’t have a place in mind you can just tick a box and we will send them to a school on your behalf

-Email or text your friends. Social media is nice but it doesn’t help us as much. What works is a personal note via email or text, in which you tell your friends why you think our work is important and encourage them to join you in backing the project.”

If any of my followers are in the Northampton area, you can come hear me speak about my forthcoming book project at Smith College next week! The blurb for the talk (for some reason, not on the poster) is as follows:

"A Rainbow Thread: Intersections of the Queer Jewish Past and Future"

Noam Sienna will explore the role of history in queer Jewish life, drawing on his experience creating the first historical anthology of queer Jewish texts (slated for publication this winter). Spanning from the dawn of the Common Era to the year of the Stonewall Riots, Sienna’s book collects over a hundred sources, including poetry, literature, law, midrash, and memoir, which paint a complex and diverse picture of the history of sexuality and gender in Judaism. As Sienna will argue, Jewish texts are not just obstacles to be overcome by queer Jews, but also potential resources in the creation of a queer Jewish future.

[Image description: a poster with a rainbow background and text in white. The title reads, "A Rainbow Thread: Intersections of the Queer Jewish Past and Future," followed by a headshot of Noam looking at the camera wearing a blue and white shawl. Next to the photo it says “Thursday November 8, 4:30pm, Graham Hall, Hillyer, Brown Fine Arts Center.” Then Noam’s bio: “Noam Sienna is a Jewish educator, artist, and doctoral candidate in Jewish History at the University of Minnesota, specializing in the Jewish communities of the Islamic world. He also holds degrees in Anthropology and Religious Studies from Brandeis University and the University of Toronto. He has taught and lectured about Jewish cultural heritage at academic and community venues around the world; his first book, A Rainbow Thread: An Anthology of Queer Jewish Texts, is slated for publication in Winter 2018 with Print-O-Craft Press.” At the bottom of the image, it says: “Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Programs in Jewish Studies and the Study of Women and Gender, Smith College.]

ASSISTANCE NEEDED

As some of you know, I (Noam) am compiling an anthology of primary sources for LGBTQ Jewish history, to be published in late 2018. The book includes over a hundred texts from Jewish communities around the world, from the time of the Talmud until 1969, aimed at both academics and a general educated audience. Many of the sources have never been published in English.

There is also still room for a few more sources, and I am particularly looking to fill the following gaps (note: all sources must have been written or published prior to 1969):

If you are interested in participating in this project or suggesting sources, please contact me at [email protected]. For inquiries about the publication, please contact David Zvi Kalman at [email protected] or check out the Print-O-Craft site. Thank you!

Image: a collage of pictures, with the words "LGBTQ Jewish History: A Sourcebook" overlaid on top in large white letters. The top left picture is a black and white photo of an activist at a protest, holding a sign reading "Equality" [Leo Skir]. The top right image is a snippet of text, written on a typewriter, reading "They have remained social pariahs unto this - Why is there homosexuality? Because there - Because it is natural. Because it always was / as part of the universe. Because God so wills" [from Allen Bernstein's "Millions of Queers"]. Underneath is a black and white photo of two women leaning intimately against each other, looking at the camera [Chava Zloczower and her partner Ruth Norlander]. The bottom left has four images: a Persian illuminated manuscript showing a large naked man speaking with a younger man dressed in fine clothing [Sarmad Kashani]; a black and white photo of an older man with a large moustache looking at the camera [Magnus Hirschfeld]; a snippet of a Hebrew manuscript showing the text of the Mishnah that describes the androginos; and a hand-drawn image of two men (one wearing a crown, and the other wearing armor) hugging and looking at each other intimately [David and Jonathan by Simeon Solomon]. The bottom right is a black and white photograph of an androgynous person with short hair looking at the camera while standing in front of a mirror, so that there are two faces looking away from each other; they are wearing a black-and-white checkered jacket with the collar popped against the neck [Claude Cahun].

7 LGBTQ Ancestors To Invite to Your Sukkah

On Sukkot, it is traditional to invite honoured ancestors ("ushpizin/ushpizata") to join your festive meals in the sukkah. As some of you know, I am currently compiling an anthology of primary sources for LGBTQ Jewish history for publication (more info on that coming soon — stay tuned!) and my friend gave me the brilliant idea to pick some LGBTQ ancestors to invite as ushpizin/ushpizata this year. There are so so many wonderful stories to honour, but if I had to pick seven — here are the ancestors that my boyfriend and  I are inviting in this year. Feel free to share, or add your own!

1. Rabbi Abbahu of Caesarea, a Palestinian amora [rabbinic scholar] ca. 300 CE. Rabbi Abbahu taught his students a midrash from his colleagues that Mordekhai nursed Esther himself; when his students heard him talking about a man nursing, they burst out laughing at him. What I would say to him: "Thank you for reminding us to amplify marginalized voices, even when they are ridiculed or dismissed. And thank you for your courage in imagining a diversity of bodies and gender expressions for our Biblical ancestors — that makes it possible to continue broadening our vision of Jewishness today. Welcome, Rabbi Abbahu of Caesarea, to our sukkah."

2. Ishaq Ibn Mar Sha'ul of Lucena, a Spanish poet and grammarian, ca. 975-1050. He was the first medieval Hebrew writer to compose homoerotic poetry, a genre which blossomed into such richness in the following centuries, comparing his beloved to figures like Joseph and David. What I would say to him: "Thank you for bringing such beauty to the expression of love, in words which resonate across the centuries. It doesn't matter whether your poems reflect your experience or not — what matters is that you brought them into the world, and in so doing gave a language for others to speak their feelings. Welcome, Ishaq Ibn Mar Sha'ul, to our sukkah."

3. Issach Mardofay [Isaac Mordekhai], a Catalan rabbi who was burnt at the stake for "sodomy" in Barcelona in 1365. What I would say to him: "Your death was a tragedy, a crime, and an unhealed wound in our historical memory. But you have not been forgotten — I draw my strength from you. Welcome, Issach Mardofay, to our sukkah."

4. Sarmad Kashani, a Persian Jewish poet, ca. 1590-1660, whose love for a Hindu youth inspired him to devote his life to the pursuit of spiritual unity, reciting mystical poetry and teaching across the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent, and who was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for heresy. What I would say to him: "Your life and work are an inspiration to all of us whose sexuality and gender do not push us farther away from our spiritual lives but rather draw us in. Thank you for refusing to live any other way but as your truest self. Welcome, Sarmad Kashani, to our sukkah."

5. Berel-Beyle, a young man from a small Ukrainian shtetl who was assigned female at birth, but always knew himself as a man. Born around 1870, he left his home for Odessa at the age of 23, where "a famous professor" helped him become the man he knew himself to be. When he returned to his shtetl, he was welcomed with open arms; he married his childhood sweetheart Rachel, joined the minyan, and was known by all as an upstanding Jew. What I would say to him: "Thank you for your courage to make your way in a world which barely had the words to acknowledge what you were. And thank you for returning home, allowing them to demonstrate that open-mindedness and communal hospitality to LGBTQ folks are part of our ancestral heritage too. Welcome, Berel-Beyle, to our sukkah."

6. "Agnes W.," the pseudonym for a Jewish lesbian who was interviewed by Magnus Hirschfeld in Berlin around 1910, at the age of 18. A music student, she admitted that she had struggled with social rejection and suicidal thoughts in the past, but declared that now "I consider myself innocent, totally healthy, and natural... I am satisfied with my natural sexual tendency and do not think any change is worthwhile or in my case even possible." What I would say to her: "Your strength of conviction in yourself was right — your love is innocent, healthy, and natural. We welcome and celebrate you for everything you are, and you have no need to hide anything anymore. Welcome, Agnes, to our sukkah."

7. Leo Skir (1932-2014), a gay Jewish activist, poet, and writer from New York, who was friends with beat poets like Allen Ginsberg and other activists like Frank Kameny. Skir published articles, theatre reviews, and even a novel, but after the 1970s was ignored and forgotten. He died in Minneapolis (where he had lived for decades), alone and unknown, the year before I moved here. What I would say to him: "We have forgotten our responsibilities to honour and respect our LGBTQ elders, even as we benefit from your legacy. We commit ourselves this year to doing better. If you are willing to forgive us, we would be honoured by your presence. Welcome, Leo Skir, to our sukkah."

Hag sameah to all!