60 Jewish LGBTQ activists to gather in Austria

Sixty Jewish activists from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer communities around the world will gather in Austria next week to launch a global forum that will address communal issues.

The new forum will be called Eighteen:22, a reference to a biblical verse in Leviticus 18:22 — “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination” — which has often been used against the LGBTQ community.

“Eighteen:22 seeks to build a global network for today’s emerging and established Jewish LGBTQ and ally visionaries who have demonstrated a profound commitment to pursuing positive change for LGBTQ Jews and their communities,” according to the press release announcing the launch.

The event will take place over three days in Salzburg.

“Our convening arrives at a remarkable moment in history,” Eighteen:22 Founder Robert J. Saferstein said. “LGBTQ human rights inhabits the zeitgeist in a way that has helped catalyze the passage of laws and rights thought impossible only a few years ago. We have even seen moves towards acceptance and inclusion in the most unexpected corners of traditional observance and Jewish life.”

“Yet, we know all too well that increased global attention does not necessarily guarantee progress — it sometimes leads to the exact opposite — and intolerance, discrimination, and violence continue to be promoted and accepted in far too many places worldwide.”

The event comes as community members in Israel and across the world reel from the murder of Shira Banki, the 16-year-old girl who died on Sunday after being stabbed at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade on Thursday. Five other people were also wounded in the attack by Yishai Shlissel, an ultra-Orthodox Jew who previously served 10 years in prison for stabbing three people at a similar parade in 2005.