OPINION: Pride Month shows the importance of being an ally

I’m not lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or queer. So why should I pay attention to Pride Month every June? Why should I pay attention to a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ community?

Maybe it’s because of my progressive, liberal orientation to life, passed down by my socially active parents. Maybe it’s because I have gay neighbors, family members and friends. Maybe it’s because my synagogue was the first in Sarasota to elect an openly gay woman president of the congregation.

Or maybe because it’s simply the right thing to do. Just as I celebrate my Black friends and neighbors during Black History Month.

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Being an ally is crucial. I’m not Black but I know that every Black life matters. I’ve never experienced gun violence, but I know that guns are dangerous and should be regulated – just as cars are. I am past the age of reproduction, but I firmly believe in every woman’s right to make choices about her body, including whether or not to become or stay pregnant.

Being an ally is crucial, and having allies is crucial. I belong to a tiny minority in America. We Jews make up 2.4% of the American population. This means that I and my co-religionists have had to rely on the support of others when we are persecuted and attacked. I live in a community that is generally supportive. And yet antisemitic attacks continue to happen, and my congregation still employs an armed guard to protect us every time we worship together.

I know what it’s like to be the only one in the room. I know what it’s like when someone makes an unthinking casual comment that cuts me to the core. I know what it’s like to be rejected, scorned and even threatened with firing from a job because I don’t believe in Jesus.

And I know that every non-Jewish person who has supported me has given me a great gift: the gift of acceptance. Of understanding. Of openheartedness. Of allyship.

Being an ally is crucial when a group is under attack. Despite the many strides our society has taken in recent years, our LGBTQ fellow Americans are most definitely under attack. The new Parental Rights in Education law in Florida – also known as the "Don't Say Gay" law – led the valedictorian at Pine View School’s graduation ceremony to use the ridiculous (and clever) metaphor of talking about his curly hair instead of the fact that he’s gay in his speech.

It won him great acclaim. But it should never have been necessary.

As a rabbi and religious person, I acknowledge that Judaism and Christianity have long had issues with homosexuality because of the verse in Leviticus, which reads: “You shall not lie with men as with women, it is toe’ay’va.” (Lev. 18:22)

The word "toe’ay’va" is usually translated as “abomination.” The Bible uses it to forbid many activities, including not keeping kosher and not strictly observing the Sabbath. So maybe, just maybe, “abomination” is a terrible translation.

Without going into a long discourse, I will just say that progressive Judaism has come to believe that homosexuality is not a sin, not forbidden and most definitely not an abomination.

Rabbi Denise Eger, the first LGBTQ rabbi to lead Reform Judaism’s rabbinical association, put it simply: “Religions across the board might have gotten things wrong about homosexuality but, for the most part, religious practice still helps you organize and live your life with a good set of values. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Indeed. Our religious leaders and institutions have much to offer, whether you’re gay or straight. So this June, let’s offer our loving support and allyship to the LGBTQ people in our community. And when June is over, let’s keep being allies all year, every year.

Rabbi Jennifer Singer is the spiritual leader of Congregation Kol HaNeshama in Sarasota.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Let's embrace the message of Pride Month all year long