Surviving Bullying, Silencing And Torment For Being Gay In The Frum Community

By Chaim Levin, The Jewish Press.com - January 25, 2012

It’s been more than six months since The Jewish Press published an op-ed titled “Orthodox Homosexuals and the Pursuit of Self Indulgence.” In the article, the writer, while not mentioning my name, calls me shameless and self-indulgent and suggests that I learn to suffer in silence.

He was referring to an anti-suicide video I made for the “It Gets Better” project. In the YouTube video I talk about the endless bullying in my childhood, the trauma of reparative therapy and my suicide attempt as a result of a frum community that seemed to not want me to exist simply because I was gay. [Read Full Story]

Photo Credit: © Katja Heinemann/Aurora Select, courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center