I’m not just trying to get a little piece of the pie. I’m not just trying to open up Judaism to make room for me as a lesbian. I’m trying to change Judaism itself. And I’m trying to change the nature of religion in America. I’m trying to change the way we talk about God and think about theology. And a part of that is absolutely because I’m a lesbian.

I found in Judaism a religion that spoke to me as an already marginalized person. That spoke to me about being able to turn my marginality and what was hard about my life into something that was positive and a celebration.

I think the queer sensibility is what is going to help save contemporary American religion, in particular Judaism. That people who are so-called the outsiders are really full of the deepest truths that society is desperately in need of. And I think this is a great gift that we have to offer.

Rabbis Sharon Kleinbaum and Dawn Rose on In the Life: The Homosexual Lifestyle, Episode #1305, February 2004.

Credit: Courtesy of In the Life Media.