Queer Jews are facing a moment of increasing challenges — experiencing both antisemitism and LGBTQ+ hate, disillusioned by crises in Israel and the U.S. and lacking seats at the table for our voices to be heard.

It’s imperative that we have a seat at the table, a voice in the Jewish community and Jewish spaces where we are welcome. We deserve to have a say in our futures and the future of our communities. One concrete way that we as a community can support LGBTQ+ Jews is by engaging in the 2025 World Zionist Congress (WZC) election, which A Wider Bridge has partnered with to intentionally support having more queer Jews on slates than ever before. 

Courtesy/A Wider Bridge

The WZC election gives American Jews a rare opportunity to take real, tangible action. Since its founding in 1897, the WZC has been called the “parliament of the Jewish people.” Every five years, the Congress convenes Zionist voices from around the globe to make decisions about the priorities of the Jewish future — and not just symbolic ones but operational ones, like budgets, leadership, education, aliyah and the values we choose to center. Jews as young as 18 have a chance to help determine how more than $1 billion is allocated across Israel and the Jewish world. 

The LGBTQ+ inclusion in this year’s election is revolutionary. There are openly gay individuals on over half of the slates — an unprecedented number of LGBTQ+ people running, and on slates across the ideological and political spectrum. There are also record numbers of transgender and nonbinary individuals running, as well as Jews of color.

Take Matthew Nouriel, for instance: a non-binary digital activist and content creator who advocates for LGBTQ+ rights and equality within the Iranian and Jewish communities while also serving in leadership roles at JQ International, Tel Aviv Institute and Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA). There is Laurie Osher, a Maine state representative who serves as the legislature’s representative to the HIV Advisory Committee and is a member of the Progressive Women’s Caucus, LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and Jewish Legislators Caucus, as well as a board member of A Wider Bridge; Evan Wolfsen, an attorney, gay rights advocate and founder of Freedom to Marry, the campaign that won marriage equality in the United States; and so many more.

Critical questions have emerged regarding this year’s elections that must be taken seriously, investigated further and addressed. Even as we advocate for that, we must not hold back on engaging in the voting process to have our voices heard. It wasn’t so long ago that LGBTQ+ issues were either ignored or treated as fringe in the Zionist movement. This year, we received responses from 11 slates about LGBTQ+ representation, up from seven in the last WZC election and including the first Orthodox slate to feature LGBTQ+ issues inclusion as part of its platform. 

LGBTQ+ issues are not wedge issues. They are a core part of our future, and this election is just one example of how Jewish members can show up for their LGBTQ+ neighbors, friends and family. But our work doesn’t end there. We must continue to create spaces where LGBTQ+ Jews are not only welcome, but are seen and heard. We must cultivate spaces where all Jews can feel safe enough to access, observe and embrace all parts of their identities and show up as their full selves. At a time when LGBTQ+ Jews increasingly feel isolated in queer spaces, this support is more critical than ever.

As Jews, we believe in dignity and in representation. We must move forward. We must engage in civic conversations and elections and make our voices heard. As we approach Pride in several cities and states later this spring, this clear progress of Jewish acceptance is an important powerful model to the broader LGBTQ+ world. A Wider Bridge will continue to fight for this broader acceptance for LGBTQ+ Jews that can happen in ways big and small, starting with the WZC election.

Rabbi Denise L. Eger is the Interim Executive Director of A Wider Bridge.