"And To All Who Love Them": The Function of Gay & Lesbian Synagogues as Communities of Refuge During the AIDS Crisis

Cor Blevins will lead us in a study of prominent gay and lesbian congregations in the United States during the 1980s. We will learn how they functioned simultaneously as sites of resistance to discrimination from both inside and outside the Jewish community, and as places of comfort and spiritual healing during the AIDS crisis. We will examine these communities in their historical context while discovering their impact on the way we practice Judaism today.

Cor Blevins is an educator who holds an MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies and an MEd in Human Sexuality studies. Cor’s research focuses on how conversations around painful and difficult histories are facilitated in educational settings. He has participated as a researcher and volunteer in public history initiatives such as the Pink Triangle Legacies Project and Drawing Against Oblivion.