Today we spotlight Lanie Cohen (she/they), alumnus of the Avodah Justice Fellowship in New York, and the Community Mobilization Manager at Keshet, the leading LGBTQ+ Jewish organization in the United States.
They sit down with Avodah to discuss what brought them to the Justice Fellowship, how Keshet is responding to this moment, and how Jews can show up for the LGBTQ+ community.
Why did you join the fellowship in New York?
I joined the Avodah Fellowship because I wanted to deepen my relationship with Jewish justice in the context of New York City and be in person to talk, explore, and learn with like-minded people in the same physical space. That was a big part of what I wanted– sharing physical space with people.
Why was sharing physical space with people so important to you?
At the time, I was one year into living in New York City and hoping to find those special rooms where people are oriented to the world in a way that feels similar to me, but also different enough that we can learn from and with one another.
And that was exactly what the Fellowship offered. We got to talk about a myriad of topics and do so in a way where everyone was bringing their own experiences to the table, but we shared the underlying value of wanting to make the world a better place and trying to find our role in doing so.
Speaking of your role in doing so, tell me about your work at Keshet.
Keshet is the United States leading LGBTQ+ Jewish organization. We seek to affirm LGBTQ+ belonging in Jewish life by working with Jewish spaces to affirm and support their LGBTQ+ community members. We have youth programs which do essential work in creating spaces for and by queer and trans youth to come together and be their authentic selves and ground in joy, Judaism, and their identities.
We also have an Education and Training team. They go into Jewish community spaces and help them with the cultural competency piece. Answering questions like, why are pronouns important? How can people actively affirm someone’s pronouns and identities?
Additionally, we have a Jews of Color program team. They host the Jews of Color Shabbaton, a weekend retreat for JOC to be in a meaningful community space. The team just conducted the first-ever survey to understand how Jews of Color are experiencing Jewish community spaces, which teaches us so much about true belonging in Jewish spaces.
I am on Keshet’s Community Mobilization team, which does advocacy work. A big part is being a Jewish voice in secular advocacy spaces and bringing advocacy opportunities to Jewish community spaces.
So, for example, there could be a synagogue that says, “trans youth matter to us. And we want to show the families that have trans kids in our synagogue that we care about making sure we are a safe space for their families. What can we do?” My team would then offer training on the political landscape affecting LGBTQ+ youth and everyone in our community. It provides myriad action items you can engage with to be an advocate, step into your civic engagement power, and do so in a Jewish way.
What are the issues that your work is focused on right now?
Right now, people are terrified. People are scared for a good reason: our rights are used as political bargaining chips and talking points. And people are having difficulty navigating what threats are real, what’s just meant to destabilize our community and our families, and what they can do about it.
At Keshet, we’re focusing on ensuring that every Jewish community space is actively affirming and dignifying space, but making sure that that is explicit in the way that those organizations or institutions are putting out messages to affirm our families in our community.
One way to do that is by joining the Thrive Coalition.
What is the Thrive Coalition?
The full name is Thrive, the Coalition to Protect Trans and LGBQ+ Youth. We are a space for any Jewish organization to be a part of the Jewish strategy to respond to the attacks on trans youth. We’ve got 300+ organizations, which is very exciting. We come together once a month and discuss what’s happening and ask: what’s the news? What are we seeing? What are people feeling? What is your experience? What are your community members telling you they need? How can we help meet those needs and develop our coordinated Jewish response to these attacks?
The rhetoric from extremist politicians is so often rooted in a false narrative that says that anti-LGBTQ+ hate is inherent to faith communities. Our job at Thrive is to say, well, if you want to listen to the faith voice, this is our voice. And we say that trans youth have always been essential members of our communities, and we’re going to make sure that we are stepping up to protect trans youth in our communities and make sure that the freedom and dignity of all people are protected.
And so we talk about specific policies. Thrive was created to discuss state-by-state policy because the coalition started that. That was how, you know, this really when we’d see a bill introduced in Florida, and it would be copied and pasted in Texas. Then it would move throughout the country depending on the success of testing ground states.
We came together to learn from one another: what were advocates doing in those states? How can we learn from those successes, those losses, and implement that strategy on a national basis? And now we’re pivoting because the attacks are coming from the executive branch and on a national scale.
We’re learning how to meet this moment, and we’re learning for the first time together as a coalition. But it really is a special space to be in community on a call with people who are saying “I really care about this, my organization really cares about this. What can we do? ”
We also learn so much together. We hear from different experts on topics such as narrative change, how to win in a tough political climate,doing the work in Florida or Texas. We bring in experts, who often happen to be trans, and are doing the work.
And we take action. We’ve advocated on Capitol Hill. We’ve written public comments for Title IX. We’ve sent letters to Congress urging votes on policies like the Respect for Marriage Act and opposing anti-trans sports bans and anti-LGBTQ+ budget amendment riders.
What’s grounding you at this moment?
I get to do the work alongside so many amazing people. And that grounds me to know that so many of my coworkers are buried in bureaucratic messes trying to navigate how to stay safe and protect themselves, and are still showing up with such grace, joy and kindness every day in the work we do together.
Also, the outpouring of interest from the Jewish community as saying, what can I do right now? People are very, very motivated to meet the moment and to engage with Keshet, to engage with Community Mobilization and just knowing: we’ve got us.
You know, like any point throughout time where Jews have been targeted, where LGBTQ+ community members have been targeted, immigrants have been targeted, our communities come together, and we take care of ourselves.
If someone is interested in taking action right now. What should they do?
We’re uplifting right now that Jewish institutions are private religious institutions. That positions us uniquely to respond to the moment. Because there’s limited government regulation, it could end up being that Jewish institutions are one of the few places where you can explicitly affirm trans youth or trans folks.
So make sure that your Jewish institutions are supportive and safe spaces for trans youth: know the laws, know your rights and that state laws and executive orders do not apply to what happens within a private Jewish institution.
We actually just published a resource called how your Jewish Community Can be a Safe Haven for Trans People. And when we say trans people, we’re talking about trans, non, binary and intersex people because we know that this affects a wide group of folks.
Another thing you can do is join Thrive. Anyone is welcome to join Thrive. No matter where you’re at in your inclusion journey, we hope that you come learn alongside us. Keshet has a “trans Jews belong” sign. And we hope that we start seeing those more in our physical spaces. Just so that when there are people who come through your doors, they know that their identity is cherished in that space.
And also making sure that there are gender-neutral bathrooms in your community spaces because depending on where you live, that might be one of the only places someone can access a bathroom that affirms their identity. This one’s really important. Committing to using the names and pronouns of LGBTQ members that they commit to using names and pronouns your LGBTQ members use for themselves.
Creating policies like anti-harassment, anti-bullying and non-discrimination that affirm all members’ dignity and safety. And if you already have heard from your community members that they feel affirmed and supported in your spaces, writing an official statement that these policies are not changing and that you now more than ever publicly support your LGBTQ community members can be very powerful.
And if you’re not there yet, we invite you to bring the Keshet education training team to develop those skills for your community. If you are interested in learning more about your legislative landscape locally and federally and how you can be an advocate, you’re invited to talk to me and our Community Mobilization team.
If you feel motivated to take action now, there’ll be something that’s a good fit for you. Are you a powerful writer with a story to tell? An op-ed could make sense for you. Do you live near your state capitol? Let’s work together to get you there in person. Do you have free time to call your representatives? Let’s find you those phone numbers. Are you a leader in a community that you can help educate and activate beyond this? Let’s help you do that. So just making sure we harness the energy that’s happening right now protecting the trans community to give people action, concrete action to take and to do so Jewishly.
