OPINION: I’m a transgender Zionist Jew – London Trans Pride’s attempt to erase my identity will fail
My love for being a Trans Israel-loving Jew is far superior to the vitriol of people who have not developed the empathy & critical thinking skills to understand and accept my truth
I am a proud transgender Israel-British Jew, and since 7 October 2023, I and others like me have felt torn between two identities: that of Jewishness and that of Queerness. We have been told repeatedly that the two cannot coexist, that we must choose one and forsake the other.
Last week’s announcement from London Trans Pride, that those who believe in Zionism are not welcome at their event, is simply the latest example of how large-scale exclusion of Jews has become normalised – indeed, it sometimes seems almost mandatory – in supposedly progressive spaces. To say I have felt abandoned by the left-leaning communities that I once felt at home with since the 7 October 2023 would be an understatement.
To me, this is hideous. Trans and queer Jews deserve to exist in both queer and Jewish spaces loudly and unapologetically. The values of tolerance, acceptance, inclusion and justice-seeking which I hold so dear, are precisely because of my identity as a transgender Jew. And yet, queer spaces – the same ones which purport to champion radical acceptance and inclusivity of all people, have repeatedly sought to erase my lived experience, to deny my connection to my homeland, and even label me their ideological enemy because I reject the notion that the only people not entitled to self-determination is the Jewish people. I find this utterly hypocritical on their part, and I find myself asking very straightforward questions. Do London Trans Pride’s executives even know the first thing about Jews or Zionism? Or have they instead chosen the same easy path which has itself been used so often against transgender people – exclusion brought about by ignorance and undeserved hostility?
Because, make no mistake, London Trans Pride’s announcement pushes Queer and Trans Jews out of the very spaces that we are supposed to be safe in. Listing Zionism next to such things as racism, misogyny, and ironically, religious discrimination, completely undermines the values that organisations like this are supposed to stand for. For me, it is difficult to ignore the sting of this kind of rejection, as I am once again being ostracised from a community that I’ve been present in for most of my life and given time and care to, simply because I support the existence of a sovereign Jewish state in our ancestral lands. It is degrading and hurtful but, after the past two years, sadly not surprising in the least.
There is a part of me that is no longer interested in fighting to be included in these spaces where I am clearly not welcome. There is no part of myself that I am ashamed of – Jew, Trans, Zionist – and London Trans Pride’s pathetic subscription to what is now an acceptable form of antisemitism is only encouragement for me to be even louder and prouder about exactly who I am.
The bottom line is this: I will not go where I am not welcome. This is not an admission of defeat, or a sign of weakness, I simply prefer to carve out my own space in society, as my people, Jewish and Queer, have always done. I know who I am, I love who I am, and my love for being a Trans Israel-loving Jew is far superior to the vitriol of people who have not developed the empathy and critical thinking skills to understand and accept my truth. London Trans Pride may not welcome Zionists – meaning a significant majority of British Jews – but there is a much bigger, brighter, and more enchanting party I would rather attend – Tel Aviv Pride. One of the biggest in the world, and the only event of its kind in the entire Middle East and North African region.
London Trans Pride does not want queer Zionists in attendance? No problem. We have survived much worse – and we will thrive regardless.
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