Reflecting on LGBT+ History Month: Community Firsts and Growing Impact
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
This LGBT+ History Month marked a significant moment for KeshetUK, with a series of “firsts” that reflect both how far the community has come and the work still to be done.
One of the most powerful moments of the month was our collaboration with Manchester Jewish Museum, where we hosted Jewish and Proud: A Celebration of LGBT+ Identity, History, and Belonging in the North. This event was our first ever public LGBT+ Hsitory Month event and, for many attendees, their first LGBT+ Jewish event ever.
The evening brought together over 50 people to explore the rich and often underrepresented history of LGBT+ Jews in the North. A curator-led tour showcased artefacts spanning more than 60 years of LGBT+ Jewish life, grounding the event in a powerful sense of continuity and legacy.
We also heard deeply personal reflections from Ariel Chapman and Yehudis Fletcher, alongside a panel of LGBT+ Jewish voices connected to Manchester. Together, these contributions created space for honesty, complexity, and belonging, something that remains all too rare. The event was highlighted in The Jewish News, The Jewish Chronicle, and The Jewish Telegraph (print only), another first for KeshetUK.
Alongside this, we were proud to partner with Jnetics on a new and important area of work. Our joint campaign and webinar, Chosen Family, Shared Responsibility, explored why genetic screening must include LGBT+ people and reflect the full diversity of the Jewish community. This builds on wider conversations highlighted in The Jewish Chronicle around inclusive healthcare and access.
This focus on healthcare extended further throughout the month. We contributed to a panel hosted by OUTpatients, exploring the intersection of LGBT+ identity, faith, and cancer care. These conversations highlighted the real impact of exclusion in healthcare settings and the importance of culturally and religiously competent support for LGBT+ patients.
We also delivered a staff drop-in session with North London Hospice, focusing on why end-of-life care must better reflect the needs of LGBT+ people. From chosen family to identity recognition, inclusive care at this stage of life is not optional, it is essential.
Beyond healthcare, we continued to celebrate and amplify LGBT+ Jewish voices in wider spaces. Our collaboration with Women in STEM Network highlighted LGBT+ women making significant contributions to science, technology, engineering, and maths, ensuring that representation is visible across sectors, not just within community spaces.
All of this work sits alongside our ongoing programmes in schools and communities, and the continued development of Belonging in Ritual, our digital resource supporting Jewish communities to create inclusive ritual and lifecycle practices. This LGBT+ History Month was not just about visibility, but about the integration and embedding of LGBT+ inclusion into the places that shape people’s lives: culture, healthcare, education, and community.
As our Executive Director, Ariel Chapman, reflected, KeshetUK’s mission remains clear: to build a UK Jewish community where no one is forced choose between their Jewish and LGBT+ identity.
LGBT+ History Month is always a moment to look back but this year, it also felt like a step forward.
