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(apologies to those who aren’t living in new york city – this is an event announcement)
(it seems like there are many more radical purim extravaganzas going on all over the country, though, and i’m posting this announcement in part to encourage folks to think big and exciting for next year…)
this year’s eighth-or-so edition of the [...]

From an interview I did with Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of Best Sex Writing 2008, about my essay in that book:
Amy Andre has a master’s degree in human sexuality studies from San Francisco State University. She works as a sex educator and writer.
What inspired your article “The Study of Sex?�
I’m actually the guest lecturer I [...]

cross-posted to jspot
Yesterday, I posted about Lantos‘ support of trans communities. Later that day I was alerted to the murder of Sanesha Stewart, a 25 year old black transgender woman from the Bronx. Her murder is not an isolated incident, nor is the horrific coverage by the news media new. What I think is [...]

cross-posted to jspot:
Folks have probably heard about Rep Tom Lantos‘ passing. One tidbit you may not know yet is the support he gave to transgender folks. Emails flooded my inbox highlighting this not so well-known talking point. Here’s just one of the emails I received from the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition:

NTAC Remembers a True Hero [...]

Check out this opportunity if you’re in the Providence, RI area!
Therapy with GLB/TGI Clients: Raising Clinician Awareness and Identifying Treatment Approaches
Presenters: Y. Gavriel Ansara, Liz Cantor Ph.D., Beth (Stump) Olsen
Venue: Psychological Ctrs, Inc./URI Counseling Ctr Training Program
Date: Friday, February 29th, 2008 Time: 8:30-4:30 a.m.
Credits: 6 Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists, social workers, mental [...]

Written for Torah Queeries:
27 Tevet 5768
Exodus 6:2 – 9:35, Comment on this essay
Parashat Vaera offers deep insight into the insecurity and hesitation many of us experience when challenged to respond to injustice, providing a concrete example of the power of advocacy and the importance of being an ally. The parasha commences with Moses, a man [...]

“Androgynos is in some manners equivalent to men and in some manners equivalent to women; in some manners equivalent to both men and women; and  in some manners equivalent to neither men nor women.�
(Mishnah  Ze’raim, Bikkurim)
I don’t know how many men have studied this text in yeshivah or on
candlelit kitchen tables over the centuries. As [...]

Parashat Terumah
The Gift of Safe Space
by Y. Gavriel A. Levi Ansara on Saturday February 24, 2007
6 Adar 5767
Exodus 25:1 – 27:19,Shabbat
Parashat Terumah opens with G-d speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai and commanding him in meticulous detail regarding the construction of the Mishkan, or “tabernacle,� the portable dwelling place of G-d’s presence that the Israelites [...]

After Noach’s last post, I wanted to let everyone know about an upcoming class I am teaching on Transgender Education at CBST.
No previous knowledge of Judaism or gender issues necessary… People of all (or no) faiths and genders welcome! The first session on Feb 22 at 6:30pm is particularly applicable to all. I would [...]

Introduction
In this brief essay, I’d like to read and think through three verses of Genesis, in order to start to establish a foundation for transgender Jewish thought. In particular, to consider hierarchy and binary opposition in the Biblical pattern of creation. (Heaven opposed and superior to Earth; Sun to Moon; Adam to Eve, [...]