Members of the Jewish and gay communities explored the history and hardships of both groups at the second installment of Queerly Jewish. The event, a gay and Jewish film series, was co-sponsored by Hillel at LSU and Gays, Bisexuals, Lesbians, Supporters United. An ordinarily quiet Coates Hall classroom became a personalized stadium-seat theater Thursday night when Aharon Varady, Hillel at LSU interim program coordinator, played "Trembling Before G-d" on a projector to kick off a night of documentary and discussion. Varady, 33, said he and a few others organized the series earlier this semester in hopes that gay and Jewish students could realize their similar experiences with oppression. "Gays and Jews can learn a lot from each others' experience," Varady said Monday in an e-mail. "And we also need to make sure that our gay and lesbian Jewish brothers and sisters know they are loved and welcome in our family." But the gay people chronicled in the documentary were Orthodox Jews, and the sect strictly forbids homosexuality. The men and women reflected on their struggles with acceptance from their parents and Jewish peers that sometimes involved disownment. Robyn Grindstaff, philosophy and English literature senior and Hillel member, said she has experienced homosexuality's tabu treatment in the Jewish community and has non-Jewish gay friends. "I'm hoping [the film series] raises awareness about the presence of homosexuality and Judaism," Grindstaff said. GBLSU President Jack Turner said the series provides an outlet for unannounced gays to become comfortable with their sexuality and college life. "You can come sit in a dark classroom with people like you," Turner said. "We're not judging you - we're just sitting back and watching a movie." While he is not Jewish, Turner said the Jewish community has been strengthened by what they have gone through, and the series allows gays to learn from them. Turner said people tend to compare the Nazis' oppression of the Jews to homosexuals' experiences in modern American society, but the scale is very different. "While personally I don't think that is an equal comparison," Turner said. "Oppression is oppression." Varady explained that the series takes place during Purim, a "cosmic inversion" holiday centered around the first time the Jewish people were under threat of genocide in Perisa 2,500 years ago. Part of the celebration, he said, revolves around Queen Esther's revelation of her Jewish identity to the Persian king to save the Jewish people - a tradition Varady felt would relate to the identity struggles Jews and homosexuals have combatted in their pasts. "Hiding one's identity to survive in a host culture that can be prejudiced is something that I think Southern [U.S.] Jews have to deal with," Varady said. The series will continue until April 24, showing films every Thursday evening - except during spring break - and spans the Hebrew month of Adar.
---- Contact Sarah Lawson at slawson@lsureveille.com
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