‘Appalled and disgusted’: Rabbi accused of transphobia over Eddie Izzard tweet
Rabbi Solomons told Jewish News transgender people should be treated with kindness but nobody can change sex.
Numerous people reported Rabbi Zvi Solomons from Reading for offensive content on Twitter after he shared a picture of comedy star Eddie Izzard with lipstick and makeup, asking followers whether Izzard was a man or a woman.
“If you think this is a man, Retweet. If you think it’s a woman, like,” Solomons’ tweet read, receiving 625 likes and 3,475 retweets as of Wednesday night.
Twitter users in the comment section said they were “appalled” and “disgusted” by his tweet, while many said “it doesn’t matter” or that it’s “none of their business.”
Solomons told Jewish News he has no problem with how people identify themselves, but that allowing men to legally change gender “infringes on women’s rights.”
Men are more violent than women, Solomon said, and therefore there should be gender neutral spaces, such as toilets and dressing rooms so that women won’t feel threatened when they encounter “someone who’s obviously a male in their supposed safe space.”
“We have to treat transgender people with the utmost kindness and respect, and accommodate them legally, but they must not be allowed to displace women’s rights,” Solomons added.
One person in particular reacted strongly to Solomon’s tweet, which he vigorously defended throughout the comment section.
Luke Levine, a Jewish transgender man, called Solomons transphobic, saying “This is one of the first times in a long time that I’ve seen a public Jewish leader tweet something so abhorrently transphobic and incite violence towards us. As a Jewish TRANSGENDER man who works within the UK Jewish community, this is incredibly upsetting.”
“Seeing discrimination and transphobic violence from a leader within the Jewish community has really taken its toll on me today, I feel exhausted and very emotional. It has made me question my place within the community and wonder if there even is one based on the rabbi in question feeling so free to air horrific and damaging views with little to zero consequences,” Levine, who is employed by the Jewish youth movement BBYO UK & Ireland, continued.
Solomons replied to Levine, saying: “What is the abhorrent view you think I hold? Be specific, show your evidence.”
Levine would like to think he has “power to have me hounded and sacked because I ask a serious question,” Solomons fired back, calling males in women’s toilets a “dangerous ideology.”
The rabbi from Reading replied to others who were offended saying “Nobody can change sex,” and “He’s a bloke in women’s clothes who uses women’s single sex spaces. Don’t you think that’s problematic?”
In another tweet Solomons said “If rabbis don’t speak up for women and girls then who will? You don’t have to be female to realise that males using female only facilities, males in female sport, males in women’s changing rooms, males demanding female medicine is problematic. Not to mention the gaslighting.”
David Davidi-Brown, chief executive of the New Israel Fund UK, lashed out at Solomons, saying :“This is shameful and an abdication of their pastoral duty and moral leadership,” while calling on Chief Rabbi Mirvis to “demonstrate zero tolerance for this hateful prejudice.”
“People are angry because there is a lot of prejudice on both sides of this issue. I occupy a middle ground. There are two groups who need to be shown love and consideration here: women and transpeople,” Solomons told Jewish News.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
