This is a list of
LGBT Jews. Each person is both
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
(by birth or conversion according to Jewish law, or identifies as Jewish via ancestry) and has stated publicly that they are
bisexual
Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
,
lesbian
A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
,
transgender
A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth.
The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...
, and/or
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...
or
questioning (
LGBTQ
LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
), or identify as a member of the LGBTQ community. Being both Jewish and LGBTQ is a canonical (recognized) example of some facet of each person on this list, such that the below listed person's fame or significance flows from being both Jewish and LGBTQ.
Academia and education
*
Judith Butler
Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory.
In ...
, philosopher
*
Yuval Noah Harari
Yuval Noah Harari ( ; born 1976) is an Israeli medievalist, military historian, public intellectual, and popular science writer. He currently serves as professor in the Department of History at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His first bestse ...
, professor and author
*
Martin Duberman
Martin Bauml Duberman (born August 6, 1930) is an American historian, biographer, playwright, and gay rights activist. Duberman is Professor of History Emeritus at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York City.
Early life
Duberman was born into ...
, historian
*
Uzi Even, Israeli chemist and former Knesset member
*
Lillian Faderman
Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an American historian whose books on lesbian history and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards. ''The New York Times'' named three of her books on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. In addi ...
, American lesbian historian
*
Jack Halberstam, Professor of English and Director for the Center for Feminist Research at the University of Southern California
*
Magnus Hirschfeld
Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician, Sexology, sexologist and LGBTQ advocate, whose German citizenship was later revoked by the Nazi government.David A. Gerstner, ''Routledge International Encyclopedia of Queer ...
, sexologist and activist
*
Ron Huberman, Israeli-born CEO of
Chicago Public Schools
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
*
Fritz Klein, psychiatrist and sexologist
*
Joy Ladin, American professor and poet, first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution
*
Arlene Istar Lev, clinical social worker, family therapist, and educator
*
George Mosse, historian
*
Oliver Sacks
Oliver Wolf Sacks (9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a British neurology, neurologist, Natural history, naturalist, historian of science, and writer.
Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford ...
, British neurologist, naturalist, and author
*
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
From 1929 to 1947, Witt ...
, philosopher
Activism & civil rights
*
Barbara Brenner, breast cancer activist and leader of
Breast Cancer Action
*
Jonathan Danilowitz, activist
*
Jazz Jennings, transgender activist
*
Frank Kameny, prominent gay rights activist from 1957 to 2011 (born to Jewish parents but became an atheist)
*
Cameron Kasky, gun control activist
*
Larry Kramer, author, playwright, activist with ACT-UP
*
Ezra Nawi, Israeli human rights activist
*
Dana Olmert, activist
*
Drăgan Flaviu, a Romanian human rights activist of Jewish origin, Director and Chief Researcher of the Operation for the Research of Nazi Personality and Thinking –
Operation "Aurora Rubiniu", and author of the book "Lupta mea pentru viața!"
*
Etai Pinkas, activist
*
Riki Wilchins
Riki Anne Wilchins (born 1952) is an American activist whose work has primarily focused on the impact of gender norms.
Background
Wilchins founded the first national transgender advocacy group ( GenderPAC). Their analysis and work broadened ...
, activist
*
Ron Yosef, activist
*
Mason J. Dunn, American lawyer, educator, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate
Arts
*
Yael Bartana, Israeli artist and film-maker
*
Claude Cahun, French photographer and writer
*
Robert Denning
Robert Denning (March 13, 1927 – August 26, 2005) was an American interior designer whose lush interpretations of French Victorian decor became an emblem of corporate raider tastes in the 1980s.
Early life
Denning was born Robert Dennis ...
, American interior designer
*
Yishay Garbasz
Yishay Garbasz (; born 1970, Israel) is an interdisciplinary artist who works in the fields of photography, performance and installation. Her main field of interest is trauma and the inheritance of post-traumatic memory. She also works on issues o ...
, artist in photography, installation, and video
*
Uri Gershuni, Israel photographer and educator
*
Gluck
Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...
, British painter
*
Nan Goldin
Nancy Goldin (born 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work explores in snapshot-style the emotions of the individual, in intimate relationships, and the Bohemian style, bohemian LGBT subcultural communities, especially dealing w ...
, photographer
[National Foundation for Jewish Culture]
. Jewishculture.org.
*
Elmyr de Hory
Elmyr de Hory (born Elemér Albert Hoffmann; April 14, 1906 – December 11, 1976) was a Hungarian-born painter and art forger. It is claimed he was responsible for producing over a thousand forgeries that were sold to reputable art galleries a ...
, Hungarian-born painter and
art forger
*
Herbert List, photographer
*
Adi Nes, Israeli photographer
*
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...
, illustrator and author of
children's books
A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...
as well as costume and set designer for films, theater and opera
*
Al Shapiro, artist and creator of first gay comic strip
*
Simeon Solomon
Simeon Solomon (9 October 1840 – 14 August 1905) was a British painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelites who was noted for his depictions of Jewish life and same-sex desire. His career was cut short as a result of public scandal following h ...
, painter
Drag performers
*
Acid Betty, American drag queen
*
Alexis Michelle, American drag queen
*
Denali
Denali (), federally designated as Mount McKinley, is the highest mountain peak in North America, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the tallest mountain in the world from base to peak on land, measuring . On p. 20 of Helm ...
, American drag queen
*
Flawless Sabrina, American drag queen and activist
*
Jinkx Monsoon
Hera Lilith Hoffer (born September 18, 1987), best known by the stage name Jinkx Monsoon, is an American drag queen, actress, singer and comedienne, originally from the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps best-known for winning the RuPaul's Drag Race ...
, American drag queen, winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and ''RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars''
*
Joey Jay, American drag queen
*
Lil Miss Hot Mess, American drag queen
*
Miz Cracker, American drag queen
*
Plane Jane, American drag queen
*
Sasha Velour, American drag queen and winner of ''RuPaul's Drag Race''
Fashion
*
Eliad Cohen, Israeli model and entrepreneur
*
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
, American fashion designer
*
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...
, American fashion designer
*
Michael Kors
Michael David Kors (born Karl Anderson Jr. August 9, 1959) is an American fashion designer. He is the chief creative officer of his brand, Michael Kors, which sells men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, watches, jewelry, footwear, and f ...
, American sportswear fashion designer
*
Isaac Mizrahi, American fashion designer
*
Zac Posen
Zachary E. Posen (; born October 24, 1980) is an American fashion designer.
Early life
Zachary E. Posen was born and raised in a American Jews, Jewish family in New York City, residing in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan. He is the son ...
, American fashion designer
*
Arnold Scaasi, Canadian-born American fashion designer
Film, television & theater
*
Chantal Akerman
Chantal Anne Akerman (; 6 June 19505 October 2015) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter, artist, and film professor at the City College of New York.
Akerman is best known for her films (1974), (1975), and '' News from Home'' (1976). The ...
, film director
*
Simon Amstell, comedian and television presenter
*
Assi Azar, TV personality
*
Neal Baer
Neal Baer (born 1955) is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows '' Designated Survivor'', '' ER'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''.
Early life and education
...
, TV writer, producer
*
Orna Banai, actress, comedian
*
Michael Bennett, choreographer and musical theatre director
*
Ilene Chaiken, creator of ''
The L Word
''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...
''
*
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...
, film director
*
Barry Diller
Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and USA Broadcasting. Diller was ind ...
, media executive
*
Sandi Simcha DuBowski, documentary filmmaker
*
Brandon Flynn, actor
*
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...
, actor and playwright
*
Diane Flacks
Diane Flacks is a Canadian comedic actress, screenwriter and playwright.
Early life and education
Flacks was raised in the Jewish faith. Her early education took place in Jewish parochial schools. Flacks studied drama at Leah Posluns Institu ...
, Canadian Jewish comedic actress, screenwriter and playwright
*
Eytan Fox
Eytan Fox (; born on August 21, 1964) is an Israeli film director.
Biography
Eytan Fox was born in New York City. His family Aliyah, immigrated to Israel when he was two. His father, Seymour Fox, was a Conservative Judaism, Conservative rabbi an ...
, Israeli film director
*
Stephen Fry
Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...
, actor, comedian and writer
*
Victor Garber
Victor Garber, (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian stage and film actor and singer. Known for his work on stage and screen, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2022, he was made an ...
, actor, comedian and writer
*
Judy Gold
Judy Gold (born November 15, 1962) is an American stand-up comedian
Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorpora ...
, stand-up comedian and actress
*
Julie Goldman, stand-up comedian
*
Amos Guttman
Amos Guttman (; 10 May 1954 – 16 February 1993) was an Israeli film director, born in Romania. He directed the first-ever Israeli LGBT-themed film and most of his films were based on events that happened in his own personal life.
Biography
G ...
, film director
*
Todd Haynes
Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...
, film director
*
Matan Hodorov, journalist, TV presenter
*
Nicholas Hytner
Sir Nicholas Robert Hytner ( ; born 7 May 1956) is an English theatre director, film director, and film producer. He was previously the Artistic Director of London's National Theatre. His major successes as director include ''Miss Saigon'', '' ...
, theatre and film director
*
Moisés Kaufman
Moisés Kaufman (born November 21, 1963) is a Venezuelan American theater director, filmmaker, playwright, founder of Tectonic Theater Project based in New York City, and co-founder of Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre. He was awarded the ...
, award-winning Venezuelan-born playwright and director, US resident
*
Jessica Kirson, comedian
*
Asi Levy, actress
*
Dan Levy, actor, writer, and comedian
*
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain (TV series), Little Britain'' (2003–2006) ...
, comedian and actor
*
Michael Lucas, entrepreneur, filmmaker, and pornographic film star
*
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes ( ; born 18 May 1941) is a British and Australian actress. Known for her work as a character actor across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs. Mingott in Marti ...
, award-winning British actress best known for her portrayal of Professor Sprout in the ''
Harry Potter
''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' film series
*
Ezra Miller, actor
*
Ben Platt
Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt (producer), Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and ...
, actor, singer, and songwriter best known for his roles in ''
Dear Evan Hansen
''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Pasek and Paul, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important rol ...
'',
''The Book of Mormon'', and ''
Pitch Perfect''
*
Max Rhyser, actor
*
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
, choreographer and musical theatre director
*
Lili Rosen, American actress, writer and Yiddish cultural consultant
*
Joshua Rush, actor
*
Jonathan Sagall, actor, director and screenwriter
*
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...
, film director
*
Noah Schnapp
Noah Cameron Schnapp (born October 3, 2004) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Will Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror series ''Stranger Things''. In addition to his work in television, Schnapp had a supporting role in ...
, actor
*
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher (14 June 1949 – 2 December 2021) was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a five-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and ...
, actor
*
Kate Siegel, actor
*
Bryan Singer
Bryan Jay Singer (born September 17, 1965) is an American filmmaker. He is the founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions and has produced almost all of the films he has directed, as well as multiple television series.
After graduating from the Univ ...
, film director
*
Joey Soloway
Joey Soloway (born Jill Soloway; September 26, 1965) is an American television creator, showrunner, director and writer. Soloway is known for creating, writing, executive producing and directing the Amazon original series '' Transparent'', winnin ...
, writer, director, producer, comedian
*
Peter Spears, actor and film producer
*
Mauritz Stiller
Mauritz Stiller (born Moshe Stiller, 17 July 1883 – 8 November 1928) was a Finnish film director of Jewish origin, best known for discovering Greta Garbo and bringing her to America. Stiller was a pioneer of the Swedish film industry, writing ...
, film director
*
Robin Tyler, comic and activist
*
Gal Uchovsky, actor
*
Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Gerald Vilanch (born November 23, 1947) is an American comedy writer, songwriter, and actor. He is a two-time Emmy Award-winner. Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on ''Hollywood Squares'', as a celebrity participa ...
, comedy writer and actor
*
Dale Winton
Dale Jonathan Winton (22 May 1955 – 18 April 2018) was an English radio DJ and television presenter. He presented the shows '' Supermarket Sweep'' from 1993 until 2001 and again in 2007, the National Lottery game show '' In It to Win It' ...
, TV presenter
*
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards.
She began acting in the 1990s, a ...
, actress, model, and musician
Literature
*
Leroy F. Aarons, journalist, editor, author, playwright, activist founder of the
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA)
*
Jon Robin Baitz, playwright and screenwriter
*
Gad Beck, Holocaust survivor and author
*
Steve Berman, speculative fiction writer
*
Betty Berzon, author, first psychotherapist in America to come out as gay to the public (1971)
*
Kate Bornstein
Katherine Vandam Bornstein (born March 15, 1948) is an American author, playwright, performance artist, actor, and gender theorist. In 1986, Bornstein started identifying as gender non-conforming and has stated "I don't call myself a woman, I ...
, writer, playwright, performance artist, gender theorist
*
Jane Bowles, novelist and playwright
*
Alfred Chester
Alfred Chester (September 7, 1928 – August 1, 1971) was an American writer known for his provocative, experimental work, including the novels ''Jamie Is My Heart's Desire'' and ''The Exquisite Corpse'' and the short story collection ''Behold Goli ...
, novelist
*
Benjamin Cohen, journalist
*
Nick Denton
Nicholas Guido Anthony Denton (born 24 August 1966) is a British Internet entrepreneur, journalist, and blogger. He is the founder and former proprietor of the blog collective Gawker Media, and he was the managing editor of the New York City� ...
, founder of
Gawker Media
Gawker Media LLC (formerly Blogwire, Inc. and Gawker Media, Inc.) was an American internet media company and Link farm#Blog network, blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorpor ...
*
Joel Derfner, writer and memoirist
*
Gabe Dunn, writer, journalist, comedian, and actor
*
Elana Dykewomon, American novelist
*
Eve Ensler
V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, author, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''. , playwright and performer
*
György Faludy, poet
*
Leslie Feinberg
Leslie Feinberg (September 1, 1949 – November 15, 2014) was an American butch lesbian, transgender activist, communist, and author. Feinberg authored '' Stone Butch Blues'' in 1993. , activist, author
*
Edward Field, poet
*
Sanford Friedman, novelist
*
Robert Friend, poet
*
Masha Gessen, journalist, author, and activist
*
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
, US
Beat generation
The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by members o ...
poet
*
Richard Greenberg
Richard Greenberg (born February 22, 1958) is an American playwright and television writer known for his subversively humorous depictions of middle-class American life. He has had more than 25 plays premiere on and Off-Broadway in New York City ...
, playwright
*
Jacob Israël de Haan, poet
*
Marilyn Hacker
Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York.
Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...
, poet
*
Aaron Hamburger, novelist
*
Max Jacob
Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.
Life and career
After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic c ...
, poet
*
Chester Kallman, poet and librettist
*
Eva Kotchever, also known as Eve Addams, Polish feminist, writer, owner of the
Eve's Hangout in New York, assassinated at
Auschwitz
Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...
*
Larry Kramer, playwright, author,
film producer, public health advocate,
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
activist, and founder of ACT UP
*
Lisa Kron
Elizabeth S. "Lisa" Kron (born May 20, 1961) is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for writing the lyrics and book for the musical '' Fun Home'', for which she won both the Tony Award for Best Original Score and the Tony Awar ...
, playwright and performer
*
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...
, playwright and screenwriter
*
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents (July 14, 1917 – May 5, 2011) was an American playwright, theatre director, film producer and screenwriter. With a career spanning seven decades he received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, ...
, playwright, screenwriter and librettist
*
David Leavitt, novelist and short-story writer
*
Fran Lebowitz
Frances Ann Lebowitz (; born October 27, 1950) is an American author, public speaker, and actor. She is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities and her association with many p ...
, author and public speaker
*
Leo Lerman, writer/editor
*
Sue-Ann Levy, columnist
*
Michael Lowenthal, novelist
*
Jay Michaelson, writer, columnist, author of ''God vs. Gay?''
*
Herbert Muschamp
Herbert Mitchell Muschamp (November 28, 1947 – October 2, 2007) was an American architecture critic.
Early years
Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: "The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. ...
(1947–2007), ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' architecture critic
*
Joan Nestle, writer, editor and activist, founder of the
Lesbian Herstory Archives
The Lesbian Herstory Archives (LHA) is a New York City-based archive, community center, and museum dedicated to preserving history of lesbianism, lesbian history, located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The Archives contain the world's largest collection ...
*
Leslea Newman, children's book author, short story writer, editor
*
Harold Norse, poet
*
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...
, novelist
*
David Rakoff, essayist
*
Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...
, poet and essayist
*
Paul Rudnick
Paul Rudnick (born December 29, 1957) is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His plays have been produced on and off Broadway theatre, Broadway. He wrote the screenplays for ''Sister Act'', ''Addams Family Values'', Jef ...
, playwright, screenwriter and columnist
*
Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and political activist. She wrote across genres and forms, addressing issues related to racial, gender and class justice ...
, poet
*
Siegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon (8 September 1886 – 1 September 1967) was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World ...
, poet
*
Sarah Schulman, journalist, writer and playwright
*
Martin Sherman, playwright
*
Andrew Solomon, writer on politics, culture and psychology
*
Susan Sontag
Susan Lee Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, critic, and public intellectual. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on "Camp", Notes on 'Ca ...
, essayist and novelist
*
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris in 1903, and ...
, writer
*
Julian Stryjkowski
Julian Stryjkowski (born Pesach Stark; April 27, 1905 – August 8, 1996) was a Polish journalist and writer, known for his social prose and radical leftist leanings. He was considered one of the best Polish-Jewish writers of the People's Republi ...
, novelist
*
Bogi Takács, poet
*
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright. She is known for her provocative explorations of complex social and political issues. Much of her work delves into themes of psychological trauma, abuse, and the complexities of hum ...
, playwright and teacher
*
Yona Wallach
Yona Wallach (; June 10, 1944 – September 26, 1985) was an Israeli poet. Her surname also appears as Volach. She is considered a revolutionary Israeli Feminism, feminist and Postmodernism, post-modernist.
Wallach had wrote poetry from a young ...
, poet
Music
*
Aderet (singer), singer-songwriter, DJ, producer
*
Howard Ashman
Howard Elliott Ashman (May 17, 1950 – March 14, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist and stage director. He is most widely known for his work on feature films for Walt Disney Animation Studios, for which Ashman wrote the lyrics and Alan M ...
, playwright and lyricist
*
Avery Friedman, musician and singer-songwriter.
*
Babydaddy, member of
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...
*
Jean-Pierre Barda, singer, actor
*
Frieda Belinfante, conductor (she has a Jewish father)
*
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...
, composer and conductor
*
Marc Blitzstein
Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and Libretto, librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-Trade union, union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, ...
, composer
* Apollo Braun, musician, author
*
Barbara Butch, DJ, musician
*
Carrie Brownstein
Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney.
During a long hiatu ...
, guitarist in
Sleater-Kinney
Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...
*
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...
, composer
*
Joel Derfner, musical theatre composer
*
Brian Epstein
Brian Samuel Epstein ( ; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was an English music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1961 until his death in 1967.
Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put hi ...
, manager of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
*
Michael Feinstein
Michael Jay Feinstein (born September 7, 1956) is an American singer, pianist, and music Revivalist artist, revivalist. He is an archivist and interpreter for the repertoire known as the Great American Songbook. In 1988, he won a Drama Desk Spec ...
, singer and pianist
*
William Finn
William Alan Finn (February 28, 1952 – April 7, 2025) was an American composer and lyricist. He was best known for his musicals, which include ''Falsettos'', for which he won the 1992 Tony Awards for Tony Award for Best Original Score, Best O ...
, musical theatre composer, lyricist and librettist
*
Ezra Furman, singer-songwriter
*
David Geffen
David Lawrence Geffen (born February 21, 1943) is an American film producer, record executive, and media proprietor. In music, he co-founded Asylum Records with Elliot Roberts in 1971 before founding Geffen Records in 1980, DGC Records in 1 ...
, film producer and record executive
*
God-Des (of God-Des and She)
*
Ari Gold, pop singer
*
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore (born Lesley Sue Goldstein, May 2, 1946 – February 16, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. At the age of 16, she recorded her first hit song " It's My Party", a US number one in 1963. She follow ...
, pop singer
*
Amir Fryszer Guttman, singer, musician, choreographer, actor, theater director
*
Lorenz Hart
Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon"; " The Lady Is a Tramp"; "Manhattan"; " Bewitched, Bo ...
, lyricist
*
Jerry Herman
Gerald Sheldon Herman (July 10, 1931December 26, 2019) was an American composer and lyricist, known for his work in Broadway theatre.
One of the most commercially successful Broadway songwriters of his time, Herman was the composer and lyricist ...
, musical theatre composer and lyricist
*
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (November 5, 1989) was a Russian and American pianist. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time, he was known for his virtuoso technique, timbre, and the public excitement engendered by his playing.
Life ...
, classical pianist
*
Janis Ian
Janis Ian (born Janis Eddy Fink; April 7, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter who was most commercially successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her signature songs are the 1966/67 hit "Society's Child, Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)" an ...
(born Janis Eddy Fink), American songwriter, singer, musician, columnist, and science fiction author
*
Dana International
Sharon Cohen (; born 2 February 1969), professionally known as Dana International (), is an Israeli Pop music, pop singer. She has released eight albums and three additional compilation albums. She was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest ...
, Israeli pop singer
*
Rona Kenan, musician
*
Dave Koz
David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in Los Angeles, California.
Early life
Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologis ...
(born David Kozlowski), jazz saxophonist
*
Adam Lambert
Adam Mitchel Lambert (born January 29, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his dynamic vocal performances that combine his theatrical training with modern and classic genres. Lambert rose to fame in 2009 after ...
, singer and runner-up on the
8th season of ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
''
[Adam Lambert, the new face of glam rock](_blank)
Malcolm Mackenzie, ''The Times'', 4 February 2010.
*
Ivri Lider, musician, singer
*
Lyrik, music producer, singer-songwriter
*
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...
, singer and songwriter
*
Doron Medalie, songwriter, composer
*
Jon Moss
Jonathan Aubrey Moss (born 11 September 1957) is an English drummer, best known as a member of the 1980s pop group Culture Club. He has also played with other bands, including London, the Nips, the Damned and Adam and the Ants.
Early life
...
, drummer, member of
Culture Club
Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...
and
The Damned
*
Offer Nissim, DJ, record producer
*
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro ( ; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums ''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' (1968) and ''Ne ...
, singer-songwriter
*
Peaches
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called nectarines. Peac ...
, Canadian electro-punk musician and performance artist
*
Phranc
Phranc (born Susan Gottlieb; August 28, 1957), is an American singer-songwriter whose career began playing in several bands in the late 1970s Los Angeles punk rock scene. Her musical style later shifted during the 1980s as a solo artist, into a ...
, singer-songwriter
*
Yehuda Poliker, singer-songwriter, musician, producer, painter
*
Yehudit Ravitz, singer-songwriter, composer, record producer
*
Marc Shaiman
Marc Shaiman ( ; born October 22, 1959) is an American composer and lyricist for films, television, and theatre, best known for his collaborations with lyricist and director Scott Wittman, actor Billy Crystal, and director Rob Reiner. Shaiman ha ...
, musical theatre and film composer
*
Gil Shohat
Gil Shohat (; born 7 September 1973) is an Israeli classical music composer, Conducting, conductor, pianist and lecturer.
Biography
Gil Shohat was born in Tel Aviv. His mother is ''Ha'aretz'' theatre critic Tzipora (Tzipi) Shohat. He grew up in Ra ...
, music composer, conductor and pianist
*
Troye Sivan
Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...
, South African-born singer and actor
*
Harel Skaat, singer-songwriter
*
Socalled, rapper
*
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March22, 1930November26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. He received Lis ...
, musical theatre composer and lyricist
*
Hovi Star, singer
*
Michael Tilson Thomas
Michael Tilson Thomas (born December 21, 1944) is an American conductor, pianist, and composer. He is Artistic Director Laureate of the New World Symphony, an American orchestral academy in Miami Beach, Florida, Music Director Laureate of the S ...
, conductor, composer, and pianist
*
Brandon Uranowitz, stage and television actor
*
Yeho, singer, actor
Politics
*
Roberta Achtenberg, former
HUD assistant secretary and San Francisco city supervisor
*
Noah Arbit
Noah Jeremy Arbit (born September 21, 1995) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Arbit represents Michigan's ...
, Michigan State Representative
*
Yossi Avni-Levy, diplomat
*
Tammy Baldwin
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party (United Stat ...
, U.S. Senator for Wisconsin
*
Becca Balint
Rebecca A. Balint ( ; born May 4, 1968) is an American politician who is a member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont's at-large congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. ...
, member of U.S. Congress for Vermont
*
Sam Bell,
Rhode Island Senate
The Rhode Island Senate is the upper house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the lower house being the Rhode Island House of Representatives. It is composed of 38 Senators, each of w ...
member.
["RI State Senator-Elect Alleged He is Being Targeted By NeoNazis"]
''GoLocal Providence'', October 28, 2018.
*
David Cicilline
David Nicola Cicilline ( ; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the fi ...
, the Mayor of
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
, member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
*
Roy Cohn, lawyer and co-counsel (with
Robert F. Kennedy) to Senator
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...
*
Bevan Dufty, former San Francisco city supervisor
*
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...
,
Democratic member of the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
*
Marcia Freedman, former member of the
Israeli Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the president and prime minister, approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government, among other things. In addition, the Knesset ...
*
Raffi Freedman-Gurspan, first transgender person in the role of LGBT liaison to the White House
*
Ron Galperin, City Controller of Los Angeles, first openly gay person elected citywide in Los Angeles
*
Jackie Goldberg, former California State Assembly member for Los Angeles
*
Nitzan Horowitz
Nitzan Horowitz (; born 24 February 1965) is a politician and former journalist who served as Israel's Minister of Health from 2021 to 2022. He is the former leader of Meretz. He previously was the chief U.S. correspondent and commentator for t ...
, Israeli Member of Knesset, first openly gay person elected to the Knesset
*
Rebecca Kaplan
Rebecca Dawn Kaplan (born September 17, 1970) is a Canadian-born American attorney, rabbi and politician who served as an at-large member of the Oakland City Council from 2009 to 2025, and currently serves as interim City Council Member for Dist ...
, City Councilmember At-Large,
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
*
Ed Koch
Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.
Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...
, former mayor of New York City
*
Sheila Kuehl
Sheila James Kuehl (born February 9, 1941) is an American politician and retired actress, who served as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 3rd District from 2014 to 2022. Kuehl was California's first openly gay state ...
, former California State Senator for Los Angeles
*
Anne Kronenberg, American political administrator
*
Melissa Lantsman
Melissa Lantsman (born April 8, 1984) is a Canadian politician and former public relations executive who serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Thornhill since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she is the party's co-deputy leader ...
, member of parliament for Thornhill,
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...
*
Mark Leno, former California State Assembly member for San Francisco
*
Mark Levine, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates
*
Rafael Mandelman, San Francisco city supervisor
*
Carole Migden, former California State Senator for San Francisco
*
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
Milk was born and raised i ...
, former San Francisco city supervisor, first openly gay person to be elected to public office in the United States
*
Jeremy Moss, Michigan State Senator
*
Amir Ohana
Amir Ohana (; born 15 March 1976) is an Israeli lawyer, former Shin Bet official and politician who has served as the Speaker of the Knesset since 2022, and as a member of the Knesset for Likud. He previously held the posts of Ministry of Just ...
, first openly gay Israeli minister and Knesset speaker
*
Jared Polis
Jared Schutz Polis ( ; ; born May 12, 1975) is an American politician and businessman serving as the 43rd governor of Colorado since 2019. He served one term on the Colorado State Board of Education from 2001 to 2007, and five terms as the Unite ...
, first openly gay man man elected to U.S. Congress (as non-incumbent) and first openly gay governor of Colorado
*
Stan Rosenberg, President Pro Tempore, Massachusetts State Senate
*
Elly Schlein
Elena Ethel "Elly" Schlein (; born 4 May 1985) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the secretary of the Democratic Party (Italy), Democratic Party (PD) since 12 March 2023. She is a member of Italy's Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Ch ...
, Italian politician, member of Italy's
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
and
Secretary of the Democratic Party
*
Barbra Casbar Siperstein, first openly transgender member of the
Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...
*
Lynn Schulman, New York City Council member
*
Itzik Shmuli, politician
*
Scott Wiener, California State Senator for San Francisco
Religion
*
Rebecca Alpert, lesbian professor in the Departments of Religion and Women's Studies at Temple University
*
Lionel Blue
Lionel Blue (né Bluestein; 6 February 1930 – 19 December 2016) was a British Reform Judaism, Reform rabbi, journalist and broadcaster, described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the most respected religious figures in the UK". He was best know ...
, first British rabbi publicly to come out as gay; wrote ''Godly and Gay'' (1981)
*
Deborah Brin, one of the first openly gay rabbis and one of the first hundred women rabbis
*
Denise Eger, first female and the first openly gay President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California; in March 2015 she became president of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis
The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), founded in 1889 by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, is the principal organization of Reform rabbis in the United States and Canada. The CCAR is the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in the world. ...
, the largest and oldest rabbinical organization in North America, and she was the first openly gay person to hold that position
[Tess Cutler]
"Rabbi Denise Eger seeks to open doors wider to all Jews"
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by the nonprofit TRIBE Media Corp. I ...
'', March 4, 2015.
*
Steven Greenberg (b. 1956), first out Orthodox rabbi and staff member of
CLAL
*
Dario David Hunter, American-Israeli lawyer,
rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
, educator and politician considered the first Muslim-born person to be ordained as a rabbi
*
Jason Klein, first openly gay man to head a national
rabbinical association of a major US Jewish denominations (2013), when he was chosen as president of the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; also the first
Hillel director to hold the presidency;
[NJ native to lead rabbinical association , NJJN]
. NJjewishnews.com. as of this election, he is the executive director of Hillel at the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a Public university, public research university in Catonsville, Maryland named after Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County. It had a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 un ...
, a post he has held since 2006;
[Major US Jewish group elects 1st openly gay rabbi , JPost , Israel News]
. Jpost.com. he will be president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association for two years
*
Sharon Kleinbaum, first rabbi of
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, one of the most influential rabbis in the United States
*
Debra Kolodny, openly bisexual American rabbi;
edited the first anthology by bisexual people of faith, ''Blessed Bi Spirit'' (2000), to which she contributed "Hear, I Pray You, This Dream Which I Have Dreamed," about Jewish identity and bisexuality
*
Amichai Lau-Lavie, founder of
Storahtelling and
Lab-Shul.
*
Sandra Lawson, became the first openly gay African-American and the first African-American admitted to the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2011; became the first openly gay, female, black rabbi in the world in 2018
*
Stacy Offner, openly lesbian American rabbi who accomplished important firsts for women and lesbians in the Jewish community;
[Alpert, R.T.]
Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition
Columbia University Press, 1998.[Rabbi Offner](_blank)
, Union for Reform Judaism website. Retrieved 2011-11-05. first openly lesbian rabbi in a traditional congregation; first openly lesbian rabbi hired by a mainstream Jewish congregation; first female rabbi in Minnesota; first rabbi elected chaplain of the Minnesota Senate; first female vice president of the
Union for Reform Judaism; first woman to serve on the US national rabbinical pension board
*
Toba Spitzer, first openly lesbian or gay person chosen to head a
rabbinical association in the United States in 2007, when she was elected president of the
Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
*
Abby Stein, transgender activist, former Hasidic Jew
*
Margaret Wenig, American rabbi and instructor of liturgy and homiletics at
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...
;
in 1976, she and Naomi Janowitz published ''
Siddur Nashim
''Siddur Nashim: A Sabbath Prayer Book for Women'' is a feminist siddur written in 1976 by Naomi Janowitz and Margaret Wenig of the Brown University Women's Minyan. It is the first siddur to use female imagery (a biblical transgression) and pronou ...
'', the first Jewish prayer book to refer to God using female pronouns and imagery;
in 1990 she wrote the sermon "God Is a Woman and She Is Growing Older
*
Sherwin Wine
Sherwin Theodore Wine (Hebrew name שמעון בן צבי, Shimon ben Tzvi; January 25, 1928 – July 21, 2007) was an American rabbi and a founding figure of Humanistic Judaism, a movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and Jewish history ...
(1928-2007), rabbi and founding figure in
Humanistic Judaism
Humanistic Judaism () is a Jewish movement that offers a nontheistic alternative to contemporary branches of Judaism. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people rather than a religion, and encourages Jews ...
*
Ron Yosef (b. 1974) (Hebrew: רון יוסף), Orthodox rabbi who helped found the Israeli organization
Hod, which represents gay and lesbian
Orthodox Jew
Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tran ...
s; his organization has played a central part in the recent reevaluation of the role of religious homosexuals in the Israeli
Religious Zionist
Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...
movement
*
Reuben Zellman, American teacher, author, and assistant rabbi and music director at Congregation Beth El in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
; first openly transgender person accepted to the Reform Jewish seminary
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...
in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
(2003); ordained by the seminary's
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
campus in 2010
Sports
*
Sue Bird
Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Bird was drafted first overall pick by t ...
, American-Israeli basketball player who has won three
WNBA championships (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
,
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
), four
Olympic gold medals, (
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
,
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
,
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
,
2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
), two NCAA Championships (2000 and 2002), and four
FIBA World Cup
The FIBA Basketball World Cup is an international basketball competition between the senior men's national teams of the members of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the sport's global governing body. It takes place every four ye ...
s (2002, 2010, 2014, and 2018)
*
Robert Dover, six-time Olympic equestrian
*
Fredy Hirsch, German Jewish athlete and youth movement leader known for his attempts to save children during the Holocaust
*
Gili Mossinson, basketball player
*
Tzipora Obziler
Tzipora "Tzipi" Obziler (; born 19 April 1973) is an Israeli former professional tennis player.
She reached her career-high singles world ranking of No. 75 in on 8 July 2007, and career-high doubles ranking of No. 149 on 10 April 2000.
Early a ...
, tennis player
*
Renée Richards, tennis player
*
Jake Heitritter, Fantasy Football Player
Business, industry and labor
*
Sam Altman
Samuel Harris Altman (born April 22, 1985) is an American technology entrepreneur, investor, and the chief executive officer of OpenAI since 2019 (he was Removal of Sam Altman from OpenAI, briefly dismissed and reinstated in November 2023). He ...
, CEO of
OpenAI
OpenAI, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence (AI) organization founded in December 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It aims to develop "safe and beneficial" artificial general intelligence (AGI), which it defines ...
*
Stuart Appelbaum, American trade union leader
*
Yotam Ottolenghi, chef
*
Joel Simkhai,
Grindr
Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application for gay, bisexual, queer, and transgender people.
It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009, and has since become the large ...
founder and former CEO
*
Randi Weingarten, current president of the
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is the second largest teacher's labor union in America (the largest being the National Education Association). The union was founded in Chicago. John Dewey and Margaret Haley were founders.
About 60 pe ...
Miscellaneous
*
Felice Schragenheim, Jewish resistance fighter and Holocaust victim
*
Ari Shapiro, American radio journalist
See also
*
Homosexuality and Judaism
The subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a (something abhorred or detested) that could be subject to capital p ...
*
Keshet Rabbis
*
LGBT clergy in Judaism
*
Timeline of LGBT Jewish history
Footnotes
External links
World Congress of Gay & Lesbian Jews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Jews, List Of
LGBT Jews
This is a list of Homosexuality and Judaism, LGBT Jews. Each person is both Jewish (by birth or conversion according to Jewish law, or identifies as Jewish via ancestry) and has stated publicly that they are bisexual, gay, lesbian, transgender, a ...
Jews
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...