This panel discussion with A Wider Bridge will give the Bay Area community the opportunity to hear first-hand stories of what it is like to be an LGBTQ teen in Israel today, and how they are being helped by IGY’s support groups and programs. For more information on the event and biographies of the youth, click here.

The Israel Gay Youth Organization was established in 2002 in order to provide a network of social support to LGBT and questioning teens. IGY now operates more than 40 support groups for LGBT teens in 25 cities in all parts of Israel. IGY states that “These support groups and other leadership programs are designed to empower teens, and train them to be the future leaders of not only the gay community, but the entire Israeli society.” For more information on IGY, click here.

The discussion is part of the second annual visit by youth and staff of IGY to the Bay Area. The event is sponsored by A Wider Bridge, and cosponsored by Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, the Israel Education Initiative of the Bureau of Jewish Education, the LGBT Alliance, and the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the San Francisco Bay Area.

A Wider Bridge, which also sponsored November’s U.S. speaking tour of Israeli LGBT Orthodox leaders, is an organization that seeks to build stronger ties between the LGBTQ Israeli community and the LGBTQ Jewish community in North America, and to provide a pathway for more LGBTQ Jews in North America to find meaningful engagement with Israel. For more information on A Wider Bridge, click here.