I realized I can be Jewish and queer. One identity doesn鈥檛 negate the other.

Author

Date

October 7, 2019

鈥淲hen I came out as nonbinary, I distanced myself from my Jewish community. I wasn鈥檛 sure how people would react. Through conversations with Ira Kirschner, the assistant director at KU Hillel, I realized that I can be Jewish and queer. One identity doesn鈥檛 negate the other. Now, I go by SD and use they/them pronouns. During one of the first events I attended at KU Hillel, we were asked to introduce ourselves by saying our name and our pronouns. Being asked to say my pronouns as part of a normal introduction completely took away the stigma surrounding my transgender identity. Using they/them pronouns aren鈥檛 the typical pronouns people use to refer to themselves, but it doesn鈥檛 mean they aren鈥檛 valid. When people refer to me as 鈥榮he/her鈥 and then correct themselves to say 鈥榯hey/them,鈥 it means so much to me because I know that they鈥檙e actively trying to value my identity.鈥 鈥 SD Klein, University of Kansas