Happy Pride Month! We have compiled a list of Kultura Collective events running this month, along with events from our partner organizations.
For LGBTQ+ stories from the Ontario Jewish Archives, please click here. And, you can celebrate Pride Month from the comfort of your couch with this selection of curated films on j-flix!
UJA Genesis and Desalu Creative have created this beautiful resource of the progress pride flag that you can colour in and then “show your pride” by sharing it on your doors, windows, etc. Click here to download.
MNjcc Virtual Gallery Pride exhibit
JUNE 3 – 20
Featuring the work of Cee Lavery and Saul Freedman-Lawson:
Cee Lavery is a childcare worker, forest school facilitator, illustrator, comic artist, and sometimes-violinist currently living on unceded traditional land of the Kanien’kehá:ka people, also known as Tiohtià:ke and as Montréal. He is self-taught, with great appreciation for DIY aesthetics/ethos and the work of other outsiders, outcasts, and amateurs. Saul Freedman-Lawson is an illustrator, babysitter, camp counsellor, and Hebrew school teaching assistant. They write and draw about gender, queerness, bodies, Judaism, kids, and family. His first fancy comic is forthcoming from Old Growth Press. They are in progress.
Everyday Friends Live Pride Parade
MONDAY, JUNE 1, 11:00 AM
Email effieb@mnjcc.org for details.
Toronto Jewish Film Festival and LGBTQ at the J Present: Transkids
TUESDAY, JUNE 2
Filmmaker Hilla Medalia (Dancing in Jaffa, Censored Voices) spent four years filming and interviewing four Israeli teenagers undergoing gender transformation. The result is an unprecedented documentary examining the social, emotional and physical challenges faced by the adolescents and their families as they navigate the various stages of the process. How does one cope with a body that is misaligned with your gender? How do parents cope when their children turn out to be different than who they thought they were? Transkids offers an honest exploration of the four young men and women who, despite paying a hefty social price, are no longer afraid of being themselves.
Shabbat Song Circle for Pride
FRIDAY, JUNE 5
Join the MNJCC for a special Shabbat Song Circle for Pride!
Becoming Eve: A Conversation with Abby Stein
MONDAY, JUNE 8, 7:00 PM
A decade ago, Abby Stein was an ultra-Orthodox rabbi named Yisrael. Today, she is an openly transgender woman. And she’s ready to share her extraordinary story with the world. In honour of Pride month, join Kol Ami for an important conversation with an extraordinary Jewish educator, author, speaker and activist.
Community Pride Shabbat
FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 7:00 PM
This year Community Pride Shabbat is going virtual! Join us for an evening of community, prayer, and celebrating our LGBTQ Jewish identities. Led by Rabbi Miriam Margles, Cantor Lisa Kent, and accompanied on guitar by Danny Greenspoon. Brought to you by Danforth Jewish Circle, LGBTQ at the J, and Moishe House.
LGBTQ+ Jewish Theatre Artists panel
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 8:00 PM
Join us for a short reading and discussion about Elijah, the 2019 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition winning play, written by Hannah Rittner. In Elijah, Leora travels from Toronto to Halifax to celebrate the days of awe (the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) with Shira (her queer sister) and Ariel (Shira’s partner). In the end, one abandoned ghost stands in the way of them enduring the holy week of repentance.
Pride Havdallah
SATURDAY, JUNE 20, 10:00 PM
LGBTQ at the J and Moishe House invite you to a community celebration of Havdallah in honour of Pride. Join us as we start a new week together through blessings, song and community. This event is for Jewish LGBTQ people and allies.
Pride-themed fitness videos
WEEK OF JUNE 22
Details TBA
Cross Canada Queer Text Study
SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2:30 PM
Cantor Shira Stanford-Asiyo, LGBTQ at the J and Moishe House Toronto are excited to invite you to a Queer Torah Study: Pride Edition. While Pride is not happening in person, we are looking to connect to text and to each other. We will explore the weekly parsha together interwoven with Jewish and queer themes.
Pride watch party and Q & A with Yair Qedar, director of Gay Days
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 1PM
Join LGBTQ+ at the J and Toronto Jewish Film Foundation for a special Pride watch party and Q & A with Yair Qedar, director of Gay Days. Sign up for free to watch in advance on J-flix, then on June 30 at 1:00 pm tune in to a live Q & A with director Yair Qedar.
Holocaust Memory and the Pink Triangle at 75
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 12:30PM
Join the Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre on Thursday, June 11 at 12:30 PM for a special program marking Pride Month to view Paragraph 175, an award-winning documentary that explores the lives of several gay men and one lesbian who were persecuted under Paragraph 175, the infamous anti-sodomy law that predated the Nazi regime. At 12:30 PM we will post a link to a recorded introduction by Neuberger staff and Paragraph 175. At 2:00 PM, Neuberger staff be joined by Kurt Krickler for a Zoom Q+A about the memory of the Holocaust in LGBTQ+ activism, and the role of the pink triangle as a symbol for gay rights. Learn more here. Click here to register. Registration required.
A note from Jewish Family and Child Services:
At JF&CS, we understand that LGBTQ2S+ individuals are facing unique challenges that have been magnified this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Year-round, our agency is dedicated to this community and is working hard to keep members connected and safe. To learn more about LGBTQ+ services at JF&CS, visit us at jfandcs.com/lgbtq
