Fourth-year linguistics and anthropology student Razi Zarchy did
not rediscover his Jewish faith until after he came out as a
transgendered person.
“I distanced myself from Judaism because I didn’t
think I’d be accepted in the community,” Zarchy said,
during the National Coming Out Day Resource Fair on Monday.
But two years ago, after Zarchy became involved in the Queer
Alliance ““ a coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender groups on campus ““ he became comfortable with the
faith.
Being involved in Mishpacha, a LGBT Jewish student group, and
meeting other queer Jews, Zarchy has become more comfortable with
his identity and is able to practice his faith “without being
so shaky,” he said.
Like Zarchy, many belonging to the LGBT community struggle with
reconciling their sexualities or gender identities with their
religious beliefs ““ many of which have traditional doctrines
that are at odds with relationships that stray from the
conventional one of a man and a woman.
Though traditional western religions have a history of
prescribing to views that do not accommodate LGBT individuals, many
religious groups at UCLA take a more inclusive stance toward the
community.
In fact, in recent years, Zarchy said he noticed that the Jewish
community, including the Jewish Student Union, Bruins for Israel
and the Progressive Jewish Student Association, have made a greater
effort to reach out to the LGBT students on campus.
This resulted from changing interpretations of traditional
texts, religious leaders say.
The Biblical verse, Leviticus 18:22, seemingly prohibits any
relations other than that between a man and a woman when it says:
“Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is
detestable.”
While orthodox Jews and Christians may take this passage to mean
it is a sin to have same-sex relationships, many student and
religious leaders believe religious texts are open to
interpretation.
A modern interpretation of this text could be referring to the
degrading fashion men sometimes treated women in Biblical times,
and therefore be prohibiting a similar degrading relationship
between males, said Andy Green, president of JSU.
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller of UCLA Hillel also believes that
“anything that is written in the Bible must be understood
through the filter of interpretation.”
Seidler-Feller said he believes the Jewish faith calls for the
inclusion of all individuals, including homosexuals. “I
understand homosexuality as something close to being innate; the
homosexual is not someone who is choosing in the majority of the
cases … (and) needs to be seen as someone acting
naturally,” he said.
At the same time, Seidler-Feller said it is important to
remember that the Torah is concerned that a commitment to family is
not undermined. Therefore, it is necessary to set guidelines that
do not promote promiscuity, and for each person to set limits to
his or her own life. After adding that his own limits include not
performing commitment ceremonies between gay couples, he admitted
that his point of view may not be fully satisfactory to both
traditionalists or everyone in the LGBT community ““ it is
more of a middle ground.
The rabbi’s beliefs are in line with the fluidity of
tradition about which Green spoke.
“Some traditional stances are outdated,” Green said
and later added: “Judaism today looks nothing like it did
1,000 years ago.”
Nor does Christianity have the same beliefs as it had 2,000
years ago, says Tom O’Donnell, a graduate student in English
and external vice chairman of the LGBT group Cornerstone, part of
the University Catholic Center.
“I find some of the (Christian) teachings on homosexuality
to be quite frustrating, … but the Catholic church is a church
with a 2,000-year history,” he said. “I understand that
at different points in history, different members of the church
don’t see eye to eye on some issues.”
Still, O’Donnell said he prescribes to the church’s
teachings of tolerance, justice and love and continues to practice
his faith.
While some in the LGBT community, such as O’Donnell,
choose to remain within religious institutions, others practice
their faith on a more individual basis.
Karamo from MTV’s “Real World,” spoke about
how his sexuality and spirituality coexist while signing autographs
after giving a speech in Bruin Plaza Monday.
Whenever somebody says anything hurtful to him in the context of
religion, Karamo says he responds with, “Pray for
me.”
Though he says he does attend services in a Los Angeles church,
he distinguishes his faith from the faith of the Christian
church.
“I’ve always believed that religion is your own
relationship with your own God,” he said.
O’Donnell said it is difficult when any community of which
students are once a part shuts them out, but added that it is not
impossible to still find a place within that community, as he and
dozens of others have done at UCLA.
For more information about Mishpacha, go to
www.mishpacha.net. For more information about Cornerstone, e-mail
uccornerstone@hotmail.com.