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JEWISH NEWS

'TN

the Jewish community," he says.
But support for the young artist
may have had more to do with his
intellect than his sexual orientation. "I
was smart, and they all liked that," he
says. "I was a national champion
debater in high school. Being smart
was a very important thing."
But Kushner believes support
would have evaporated had he
unlatched the closet door. "They were
as homophobic as anyone else," he
says of the Jews of Lake Charles.
Being out is nothing new for folk
singer Alix Dobkin, "We are the
greatest outsiders," she says of what it
means to be gay and Jewish.
While claiming she has "no use for
religion," Dobkin, who as a kid once
attended a Jewish camp affiliated with
the Communist Party, sings the prais-
es of Jewish culture. "I respect its val-
ues, its respect for life, its focus on
education and its community spirit."
Filmmaker Vickie Seitchik wasn't
sure in what spirit she should accept
the fact that her son is gay.
"Everyone is homophobic," she
says. "I thought my son was damaged.
My emotions were of guilt and blame,
stemming from the whole psychology
that I knew, that if someone were gay
or lesbian, it was [believed to be]
because of a trauma he or she had
growing up."
Seitchik straightened out her feelings.
"My feeling is that most Jewish
parents will make the attempt to deal
with homophobia," she says, "because
they know their kids deserve the best
from them."
Seitchik has done her best in a
"reel" way. She made the film Queer
Son, a compassionate and caring doc-
umentary about her son, Mark, and
how the whole family came to sup-
port him.
"I know it has had an impact on
friends and their ridding themselves
of homophobic feelings," she says.
If there is a festive feeling among
Jewish artists and others during the
gay '90s," maybe it is because, with
barriers coming down, respect and
tolerance is on the up-and-up.
After all, when all is said and done
and performed, people are people,
says writer/actor Miller, thinking back
on a gay service she attended with her
lover during a High Holidays observa-
tion.
'And do you know what?" she says
of the crowd of gay congregants.
"They all looked like Jews." ❑

—Michael Elkin
Philadelphia Jewish Exponent