“I’m not just a Jew, I’m a trans jew, and I’m not just trans, I’m trans and Jew”: agency and identity in the experiences of gender diverse former students in non-Orthodox Jewish day schools in the United States
A large and growing percentage of self-reported gender diverse people are young individuals who are school-aged (Herman et al., 2022; Minter, 2018). Yet, schools, the main venue for children’s socialization and gender negotiation (Mackie et al., 2021, Meyer, 2022), have been evidenced to be unsafe for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students in general, and gender diverse youth in particular, with detrimental impact on academics and mental health (Eisenberg et al., 2017; Grant et al., 2011; Kosciw et al., 2022; McBride, 2021; Su et al., 2016). While the impact of recent anti-trans trends on the previously-afforded protection for gender diverse students in public schools is yet to be seen (Mayo, 2022; McQuillan, 2023), such protection in privately-funded schools, such as Jewish day schools (JDSs), is also not guaranteed. Moreover, inherent tension between gender diversity and religion render religious K-12 schools and higher education institutions unsafe for gender diverse students (Callaghan et al., 2023; Craig et al., 2017). Jewish denominations, with whom JDSs are typically affiliated, reflect a denominational divide between Orthodoxy and non-Orthodoxy in their relation to gender diversity inclusion, with the latter being more accepting and adaptive (Devor, 2016; Poveda, 2019; Stahl & Kushner, 2014). However, little is known about the realities of gender diverse students in JDSs. This dissertation explores the experiences of gender diverse former students in non-Orthodox JDSs in the United States. Using a qualitative descriptive framework and a queer theory lens, the study highlights the central role of student agency and advocacy in all aspects of school experiences and reveals the need for JDSs to adopt a proactive and systemic approach to center gender diversity within school life. Additionally, it identifies the pivotal role of Jewish LGBTQ organizations in supporting the development and reclaiming of intersectional gender diverse and Jewish identities, in an ongoing, flexible process of personal meaning-making – further reinforcing postmodern perspectives of the conflict frame (Levy & Lo, 2013).
Gender diverse students, Transgender students, Gender diversity, Jewish day schools, Judaism and gender diversity
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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