Lesbian lands Jewish honour

Lesbian lands Jewish honour

A campaigner for lesbian rights has been honoured by the Jewish community as part of its New Year festivities.
Dawn Cohen, a co-founder of Dayenu, Sydney’s Jewish gay and lesbian organisation, was nominated as one of 25 prominent community members in a list called Jews We Love, organised by the Australian Jewish News.
Community members were asked by the newspaper to nominate inspirational living Australian Jews for their contribution to the community.
The national mouthpiece for the Jewish community asked readers to identify “Jews we love because they make us laugh or cry, inspire us or simply make our community a better place to live”.
Cohen launched a push for lesbian and gay rights in the Jewish community in 1990 in that community’s first public debate on the issue. A decade later she co-led the first major Jewish float in Mardi Gras, breaking new ground in visibility for Jewish gays and lesbians.
Cohen, who is also LOTL’s advice columnist, was nominated “because she challenges established viewpoints,” the Australian Jewish News said.
The list also included Vic Alhadeff, a former editor of the paper, who stood up to condemnation from the Orthodox Jewish religious court for allowing Jewish gays and lesbians positive visibility in the newspaper.

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