Young Jewish Queers launched
"YJQ is a place for queer Jewish teens to meet each other and to see that there are other people like them."
During the pride month of June, a broad range of cultural and faith groups from Melbourne’s LGBTIQA+ community came together at the Collingwood Town Hall for the inaugural Thorne Harbour Health “Pride Across Cultures” event on June 25.
Amongst the dozen stalls were Jewish groups Aleph Melbourne and Jewmos, and newly formed group Young Jewish Queers for Jewish queer teenagers aged 13 to 18.
Michael Barnett of Aleph Melbourne said that amongst those who came to their stall were recent arrivals to Melbourne’s Jewish community from Israel and from interstate. Others came to share their support for the Jewish community in these challenging times including Matt Mackenzie from the Department of Home Affairs and Victoria Police LGBTIQA+ liaison coordinator Jeremy Oliver.
Barnett told The AJN that Mackenzie has been working closely with the Jewish community to understand their safety needs post-October 7, and Oliver has been instrumental in providing protection for the Jewish contingent at the Midsumma Pride March and at the Pride Across Cultures event.
Jarod Rhine-Davis of Jewmos delivered a presentation in the breakout room on the events being organised for this year including a queer Shabbat dinner to be hosted at Temple Beth Israel on August 15.
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