Legal and Education Defense Fund.
"When. someone says they are gay, they are talking
about their sexual identity, their sexual orientation,
instead of their practices," Davidson says. ''When
they say they have a boyfriend, it's talking about
someone important to them — it's not talking
explicitly about sex. We feel strongly the district was
interfering with his freedom of speech."
Davidson points our that heterosexual teens talk
about their boyfriends or girlfriends during school
hours. "I'm sorry, but there's a double standard here."
Davidson also disputes the claim that the proper
authorities were not notified. "We have a file they
produced for us of reports he filled our that they
then ignored," he says.
ECHO is the chief sponsor of Henkle's presenta-
tion. But the Nov. 1 meeting is not limited to gay
adults and teens, says Seth Rosenfeld of Bloomfield
Hills, president of Seaholm High's diversity club and
who, along with club member Julie Nagle, 16, also
of Bloomfield Hills, were the only teens on the

meeting's organizing committee.
"We want to emphasize this is for everyone — not
just GLBT [gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender]
youth, but teens who are harassed for issues of race,
religion, ethnicity, disabilities or whatever," he says.
Kim Roth, ECHO program director, sees the
Henkle case as a test of equal protection under the law.
"I'm sorry this happened to Derek, but I'm glad he
decided to sue," she says, "When I read what hap-
pened to him, I just got ballistic. He could have been
another Matthew Sheperd [a young gay man who
died as a result of beating and torture in Wyoming.]"
Says Nagle, "They say one person cannot change
the world, but I believe that, with one person teach-
ing another through programs like this, we can
come very close.
Nagle characterizes what happened to Henkle as
creepy.
"At the school I come from, it doesn't happen so
much — people are focused more on themselves
than on how other people are acting," she says. "So

it was scary something like this actually happened. It
seems like something from the old days."
Henkle says gay teens should be able to attend high
school without verbal or physical harassment, whether
they live in major metropolitan areas or in Nevada.
"One of the things kids have to do is to report
everything that happens if their education is being -
bullied out of them," he advises. "They should find
people who are like them and who support them.
And they must realize they are worth being in a
school community, worth being treated like a
human being."

"

The Southfield-based Michigan Jewish AIDS
Coalition presents "Teens Are Talking ... About
Discrimination, Harassment, Bullying and
Solutions," 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, at
Birmingham Seaholm High School. For more
information, call MJAC at (248) 594-6522.

•

Inclusive

Rabbi Steven Greenberg, openly gay, gets reaction from homosexual and heterosexual community members.

SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer

T

he movie Trembling Before
God, screened Oct. 17 at
the West Bloomfield Jewish
Community Center,
brought forth a barrage of questions
for openly gay Rabbi Steven
Greenberg.
The non-fiction film focused not only
on the life-challenges of being gay, but
on being gay in a stream of Judaism —
Orthodoxy — that strictly forbids act-
ing upon homosexual tendencies.
Along with scenes of heart-wrench-
ing family destruction, it also showed
the tears of a gay
b , chasidic woman and
a man praying at the Kotel (Western
Wall) and later dressing in false eye-
lashes and a dress.
Filmmaker Sandi Simcha
DuBowski's documentary-style, 90-
minute movie was shown as a prelude
to a discussion on the conflict between
religious beliefs and sexual identity.
The program, sponsored by the
JCC's Lenore Marwil Jewish Film
Festival in cooperation with the
Southfield-based Michigan Jewish
AIDS Coalition, was led by Rabbi
Greenberg, senior teaching fellow at
the National Jewish Center for
Learning and Leadership. Rabbi
Greenberg served as adviser to the
film and also appeared in it.

"There is a struggle with these issues
within any religious faith," said Emily
Thompson of Dearborn, who is not
Jewish, after attending the program.
"The resentment I saw amazed me,"
said Gene Yukon of Bloomfield
Township. "I'm Catholic and didn't
realize other religions had this conflict."
Ross Grossman of Oak Park was
moved to reflect on his own life after
seeing in the film how some remain in
unhappy heterosexual marriages with
the help of anti-depressants, or are con-
fined to mental hospitals or are suicidal.
"This movie helped point out my
own blessings — birth family and

family-of-choice who accept me for
who I am," said Grossman, who
attended with his partner Alan Ellias;
they are Temple Israel members.
Conservative Rabbi David Nelson of
the Congregation Beth Shalom was
touched emotionally by watching the
film's Orthodox Jewish families break
ties with their gay children.
"This will be helpful to many in
Judaism," said Rabbi Nelson. "If there
is so much pain, there has to be a rea-
sonable and honest way we can help
one another. I think many in the
crowd felt this shows how the commu-
nity takes an interest in them."

1•■••,

Left: Rabbi Greenberg addresses
questions following the fik.

Above: Film viewers Ross Grossman
and Alan Ellias.

Ellias was astounded by "the courage
it took for the people to even appear
in the film." Some are nameless, some
faceless, some shown only in darkened
silhouette.
Understanding that the choice for
many in the film came down to
remaining secretive about themselves
or leaving their beloved Orthodox
movement, Ellias said, "I really hurt
for them and felt angry for them at
the same time."
Grossman agreed. "The people in
the movie are very brave to be as visi-
ble as they were, considering how their
religion would treat them — if they
knew," he said.
"On the one hand, it is hard to
understand why someone would have
so much passion for a sect of religion
that would treat them so badly. On the
other hand, I commend them for a love
of religion and faith that God is with
them, despite what their peers and fam-
ily would say. What a conflict."
Rabbi Greenberg said the film offers
no resolution or solution because, at
the present time, there isn't one. Over
and over, those appearing on screen
reaffirm their desire to remain both
gay and Orthodox.
"Seeing people who have such an
incredible love for their religion being
rejected by so many of their peers, fami-
ly friends — it seemed a very difficult
wound to heal," Ellias said. :0!

10/26
2001

19

