Happy Pride Month!
We’re celebrating Pride all month long! Learn to bake rainbow challah, watch a lecture, attend drag cabaret, view our virtual queer and trans art exhibition and so much more! Make sure to bookmark www.mnjcc.org/pride to see everything we’re up to this month!
To learn more about any of these events or register, please click here.
Rainbow Challah-Baking Class for Families
Thursday June 3, 2021 → 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Whether you want to learn how to make challah from scratch or infuse more pride into your challah this month, join us for this family-friendly rainbow challah class and demonstration! This interactive class will be led by Pearl Cohen and Lauren Schreiber Sasaki, both weekly challah bakers who love kids, rainbows and Pride month! Participation is optional but an ingredient list will be sent with registration.
In partnership with Beth Tzedec Congregation, PJ Library, Machane Lev and Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School.
Queer Jewish Drag Cabaret
Saturday June 5, 2021 → 9:00 PM
You are cordially invited to kick off Pride 2021 at our Queer Jewish Drag Cabaret! This fabulous, free affair will take place live on Zoom + streamed to Facebook. Bring your outrageous, authentic selves, and bask in some queer Jewish wonky wonder!
In partnership with Alex Richler, Community Builder, LGBTQ+ at the J, JQT & PrideTO.
Jewish LGBTQ+ Representations in Film and TV
Sunday June 6, 2021 → 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Guest speaker: Stav Meishar, multidisciplinary stage artist and educator.
From Angels in America and Transparent to Bent and Yentl, explore the intersection of Jewish identities and queer identities in film and television. Are these identities separate or influence each other? Do they stand in juxtaposition or complement each other? What does it mean for these characters to be Jewish AND Queer? Enjoy video clips excerpts and analyse these questions using biblical, contemporary and academic texts.
Co-presented as part of Pride Month by Adult Daytime Culture and Education, Israeli Connection at the MNjcc, LGBTQ at the J and the Toronto Jewish Film Society. Presented in partnership with Pride Toronto. Generously sponsored by the UJA Federation’s Emerging Communities Committee.
Toronto Jewish Film Festival and LGBTQ+ @ the J Present: June 8-10, 2021
Two In her remarkable debut, director Astar Elkayam tackles the physical and emotional challenges two women face when they decide to start a family. Initially optimistic, Bar and Omer embrace the process, eagerly combing through a catalogue of potential donors and facing the insemination process with humour. After Omer repeatedly fails to become pregnant, a sense of failure gnaws at them, threatening to undermine their relationship. Mor Polanuer and Agam Schuster (Your Honour) deliver outstanding performances, realistically capturing the toll that the process takes on the young couple. https://tjff.com/films/two/
Marry Me However This ground-breaking documentary explores the emotional devastation wrought by marrying against one’s sexual orientation, for the sake of complying with Orthodox religious obligations. Four gay and lesbian individuals recount their journeys from self-acceptance to social activism as they try to affect change in their religious communities that will allow them to maintain their faith while living openly. The film exposes the psychological toll that these marriages have on straight partners as a result of being married to people who do not desire them. https://tjff.com/films/marry-me-however/
And, you can celebrate Pride Month from the comfort of your couch with this selection of curated films on j-flix!
A Queer Dinner Party: Around the Shabbat Table
Friday June 18, 2021 → 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Join us around the Shabbat table for a celebration of all things Pride! We will welcome Shabbat together with some liturgy, join in Shabbat ritual, and meet each other through song, poetry and sharing. Bring your dinner and celebrate Shabbat in the queer community!
Inspired by Judy Chicago’s ‘Dinner Party,’ we will be honouring queer role models or ancestors and will have optional time to share with each other.
In partnership with Beth Tzedec, neySHEV, Jewish Family and Child Services, Machane Lev, Hillel UofT, and Alex Richler.
Queer at the Root
May 31 – June 30, 2021
Queer at the Root is a virtual art exhibition featuring 18 Jewish, queer and/or trans artists across North America presented by the Miles Nadal JCC in collaboration with JQT Vancouver and curated by Angelic Proof. A Pride Toronto affiliate event.
To learn more about any of these events or register, please click here.
The MNjcc strives to be an LGBTQ+ positive space and is committed to welcoming, including, and embracing all members of the community. We seek to create and maintain a safe, welcoming, affirming and inclusive environment for members of the community of any gender or sexual identity, and a community that is free of discrimination and harassment based on gender expression and sexual orientation. Why Pride? Pride Month is an entire month dedicated to the uplifting of LGBTQ voices, celebration of LGBTQ culture, and the support of LGBTQ rights. Throughout the month of June, there are usually parades, protests, performances, and memorials and celebrations of life for members of the community who lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. It is part political activism, part celebration of all the LGBTQ community has achieved over the years. Toronto’s Pride celebrations evolved out of the mass protests that followed the 1981 Toronto bathhouse raids. During Pride Month (June) every year, we offer a number of fabulous programs that are open to everyone!
