Parenting LGBTQ Children: A Conversation with Ayala Katz

September 3, 2014

Keshet and Temple Israel of Boston invite you to join us for an engaging and thought-provoking conversation about parenting LGBTQ children with Ayala Katz, mother of one of the victims of the 2009 Tel Aviv LGBT youth center shooting, and a leading Israeli LGBTQ rights activist.

Jayne Guberman, a founding member and mentor for the Keshet Parent & Family Connection, will moderate a conversation with Ayala about their shared experience parenting LGBTQ children, Ayala’s fierce LGBTQ rights activism in response to her son Nir’s tragic death, and the strength she and her family draw from one another.

Cosponsors:
Anti-Defamation League – New England
Combined Jewish Philanthropies
Congregation Kehillath Israel
Eshel
Family Equality Council
Gann Academy
Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD)
Greater Boston PFLAG
Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters
Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston
New Israel Fund
Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Boston
Temple Beth Zion
Prozdor of Hebrew College
JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School

(Additional cosponsors forthcoming, keep an eye out!)

Ayala Katz
Ayala’s life was torn apart on August 1, 2009, when her son Nir was murdered in a shooting at the Bar Noar, a Tel Aviv center for LGBT youth, where he volunteered as a counselor. Nir was only 26 years old. Katz responded to her incalculable loss by becoming a vocal activist in Israel’s LGBT movement. Without fear of repercussions, she gave interviews, and spoke at rallies, conferences, and schools. In addition, she worked with LGBT organizations to create the Nir Katz Center for Violence, Discrimination and Homophobia Reporting, which opened in Tel Aviv in 2012. She chaired Tehila, an Israeli support organization for parents of LGBT children. In 2010, she organized a meeting between Gideon Starr, Israel’s Minister of Education, and LGBT groups—the first such meeting of its kind in Israel. When Nir’s German-born partner faced deportation, Katz helped him obtain legal counsel, and went to the media with the message that her late son’s partner deserved the same legal rights as a heterosexual in the same situation. As a result, the Interior Ministry reversed its decision and allowed Nir’s partner to remain in Israel.

Jayne Guberman
Jayne is a co-founder of Keshet’s Parent & Family Connection and an oral historian, who helps individuals, families, organizations, and communities preserve their stories and document their histories. Prior to opening her own practice, Jayne was Director of Oral History at the Jewish Women’s Archive, where she learned the transformative power–for both teller and listener–of sharing life experiences through a personal lens. Over the past year, as director of an oral history project co-sponsored by WBUR and Northeastern University, she trained that lens on those whose lives were acutely affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. Growing out of her experiences as a mother, she co-founded the Adoption and Jewish Identity Project to improve the lives of adoptees and their families, and became involved with Keshet when her older daughter came out as a college freshman. Worried that her daughter was entering a world she knew little about and didn’t understand, she reflects, “In the thirteen years that have passed since then, Keshet was first my safe harbor, then my inspiration, and now my partner in working towards the creation of a better, safer, and more inclusive world. Working with an amazing and committed group of parents, we formed the Keshet Parent & Family Connection so that other parents, family members, and LGBTQ young people would know that they are not alone, there are resources available within our community, and together we can help build the world we want our children to live in.” Jayne and her husband, David, live in the Boston area and have two adult children and a one-year old granddaughter. They are thrilled that their daughter and daughter-in-law celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary this year!

Space is limited, register now to reserve a seat!

Temple Israel of Boston is mobility accessible and has all-gender bathrooms.

Event Location: Temple Israel of Boston
477 Longwood Ave, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, 02215

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Fact Sheet
When
Wednesday, September 3, 2014, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
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