Out at the J: Welcoming + Evolving

The new name is just one step. “It’s fun and exciting,” says Kanter. “Changing the name is an expression of our readiness to move forward.”

“The LGBTQIA+ population is in a different place,” he adds. For the most part, the community has come out, and LGBTQIA+ rights are “close to equal.” The JCC is emphasizing community building, a process that Lacks says has occurred in a “really holistic, organic way.”

The Nice Jewish Boys and Nice Jewish Girls groups for 20s and 30s are one way the JCC is working to meet these changing needs. “The idea is to build community and facilitate the needs of dating and friendship,” Kanter says.

“There are a lot of apps and social opportunities, but we can fulfill a different need. We’ve got groups like JQYouth, which focuses on Jews from traditional backgrounds, but there wasn’t a lot for secular, unaffiliated Jews,” Kanter says.

Support programs, a staple of the JCC's LGBTQIA+ programming will continue.

Today LGBTQIA+ programs are being woven into pre-existing ones. Out at the J has teamed up with Honeymoon Israel, which provides trips to Israel for newly committed couples, and with Circles of Welcome, also for young couples and families, to develop a gay and lesbian cohort. Lastly, Kanter plans to team up with Engage Jewish Service Corps to establish an LGBTQIA+ group to work on service projects through the JCC and partner organizations.

“Over the years,” Lacks says, “we’ve done so many things I’m so proud of. Watching our work with this population has been incredibly gratifying.”

Sherri Lerner is the former editorial director at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has written and edited for numerous publications and is currently on the staff of the Wechsler Center.