The rocky path to public acceptance of gay Jews in Australia

Twenty-five years ago, as editor of The Australian Jewish News, I was informed that a Jewish float would participate in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras for the first time.

It was February 2000, and I had been frequently touched by heartfelt appeals from Sydney activist and journalist Dawn Cohen for Jewish gays to be accepted in the community. So there was no doubt in my mind that this was a significant moment, both for LGBT+ Jews and the community itself.

I published a photograph of two of the participants on the front page, respectfully attired in black and featuring a pink Magen David on their shirts. I had a sense that the photograph would not be universally well-received, so I notified the publishers that matters might get heated.

Did I say might get heated? Within hours of the paper hitting the street, I received calls from the NSW Rabbinical Council and Sydney Beth Din. Their message: a stern invitation to attend a combined meeting of both organisations. After consulting various communal figures, I respectfully informed the organisations that I was declining to attend the meeting.

I then published an editorial explaining my rationale to publicise the Jewish participation in the Mardi Gras, followed by a further editorial on my refusal to attend the rabbinical meeting.

The AJN received an astonishing 210 letters to the editor on the issue during the next three weeks – compared to the usual weekly dozen letters. It was unprecedented in the newspaper’s 120-year history. Remarkably, the overwhelming majority of the letters, which filled three pages each week, unequivocally endorsed the newspaper’s position, which supported the right of Jewish gays to be accepted as gay.