LGBT+ Jews should never have to choose which part of themselves belongs

Next year marks 13 years of KeshetUK, the Jewish community’s LGBT+ education and training charity. Our mission is to ensure that LGBT+ Jews and their families are included throughout Jewish life in the UK. Over the past 13 years, we have seen enormous change when it comes to the inclusion of LGBT+ Jews within our community.

Across different denominations and communities, there is a growing willingness to talk about LGBT+ inclusion. Synagogues are looking for ways to better include LGBT+ Jews; our schools are thinking about how to support LGBT+ young people, and more LGBT+ Jews are able to see themselves represented in Jewish life. There is genuine progress to celebrate.

But we know there is still much to do. Too many people are forced to choose between the Jewish and LGBT+ identities. We cannot shape a better future if we do not understand the present. That is why KeshetUK has launched the UK’s first National Jewish LGBT+ Survey, to better understand the experiences of LGBT+ Jews across the UK, the barriers they still face and what we can do differently to make Jewish life more inclusive.

The timing matters.

Since 7 October, we have heard from LGBT+ Jews who have experienced antisemitism and exclusion in LGBT+ spaces where they once felt safe and accepted, as so many Jews have felt in non-Jewish spaces. People have told us about feeling uncomfortable wearing Jewish symbols, questioning whether they can attend LGBT+ events, losing friendships and becoming reluctant to ask for support from organisations they previously trusted.

And we now have some indication of just how profound this experience can be.

A 2024 US survey by Eshel and A Wider Bridge found that 82 percent of LGBT+ Jews who used LGBT+ online spaces had been kicked out, blocked, verbally harassed or made to feel uncomfortable. Among those surveyed, 43 percent had completely disengaged from LGBT+ online spaces, while 30 percent reported harassment, threats of violence or being kicked out of friendship groups. KeshetUK are asking if that’s reflected in the UK.

Because what happens when someone feels pushed away from one community? Often, they turn towards the other. For LGBT+ Jews who have found LGBT+ spaces increasingly difficult since October 7th, their Jewish community may become even more important as a source of connection, identity and belonging. That makes the progress we have made on LGBT+ inclusion in Jewish life more important than ever, even if there is still a way to go.

A 2024 US survey by Eshel and A Wider Bridge found that 82 percent of LGBT+ Jews who used LGBT+ online spaces had been kicked out, blocked, verbally harassed or made to feel uncomfortable

I know something of this myself. Over the past three years, my experience of being Jewish in non-Jewish spaces has changed, and I know I am not alone in having to navigate questions about where I feel comfortable and where I can be my whole self. But those experiences have also reinforced for me how important it is to have Jewish spaces where being LGBT+ is not something you have to explain or set aside.

Are LGBT+ Jews feeling more included in Jewish life than they were five years ago? Do people feel comfortable in synagogue? And what has happened to their relationships with LGBT+ spaces since 7 October?

These are not questions we can answer through anecdotes alone. This research will allow us to measure the progress that has been made, identify where inclusion is still falling short and understand where KeshetUK and the wider Jewish community need to focus our efforts next.

If you are an LGBT+ Jew living in the UK, please complete the survey. Whether you are deeply involved in Jewish life, rarely attend a synagogue or sit somewhere in between, your experience matters. And if you are not LGBT+ yourself, please share it with someone who is.

We have spent 13 years working to make Jewish life more inclusive. Now we have an opportunity to listen, measure our progress and understand what needs to happen next. Because belonging should never depend on which part of yourself you bring into the room.

The survey is open now at www.research.net/r/KeshetUK.