Today is National Coming Out Day

Friends,

Today is National Coming Out Day. We urge you to make a difference in our community and come out as LGBT or as a straight ally to anyone who will listen. We have created a list of suggestions for fun and unique ways to come out and we hope that you utilize them today. This year National Coming Out Day feels even more relevant with the news of teen suicides and anti-gay attacks. These forms of violence have plagued our country and have reminded LGBT people and our allies around the world about how much more work there is to do in the struggle to end discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender presentation. This a wake-up call to us all that something must change. Without your voices this violence will continue. Just yesterday, a politician in New York known for having said of being gay, "that's not the example that we should be showing our children," stated another verbal attack. This time he was not at a political rally but speaking in a synagogue. Please come out today and give our young people the good examples of our proud Jewish LGBT and ally lives.

With the hope that none of us will remain silent, we are circulating a pledge with the support of Keshet. Please sign on to it if you wish to make a public commitment. You can find the link to the pledge along with a page of resources devoted to the combat of bullying.

Let's send a message to everyone in our communities that we will not stand by in the face of suffering and injustice. Our collective goal is to gather 18,000 pledges by the end of the calendar year. This is a pledge we are asking of all Jewish community members, youth and adults, so please help forward this message widely.

In Shalom...

Arthur Slepian, Chair

Lisa Finkelstein, Director