O pinion
LGBTQ People Lack Full Legal Protections in Every State.

Jews Need to Be Part of the Solution
BY STACY SCHUSTERMAN
IN THE 1980s, Dennis Neill, an
employee of our family business,
came out as gay to my late father,
Charles Schusterman. Coming
out in Tulsa, Oklahoma, during
the height of the AIDS crisis
was a risky thing to do, and it
could have cost Neill his job.

But my father embraced Neill
and assured him that his job
was safe.

At the time, there was no law
in Oklahoma to prevent Neill
from being fired or discrimi-
nated against simply for being
gay. My father provided that
protection on his own. Nearly
20 years later, Neill’s story and
many others like it inspired me
to ensure that our company
extended full benefits to
LGBTQ+ people, even though
no federal law and very few
state laws mandated we provide
such benefits.

Even today, no such laws
exist in many states or at the
federal level. Despite measur-
able achievements for LGBTQ
rights, such as legalizing
same-sex marriage, the federal
government has never passed
comprehensive legislation for
fair and equal treatment of
LGBTQ people.

That could change soon as
the U.S. Senate prepares to
vote on the Equality Act. If
signed into law, the Equality
Act would prohibit employers
in all 50 states from discrim-
inating against employees
on the basis of sexual orien-
tation and gender identity. It
would also protect LGBTQ
people from discrimination in
housing, education, govern-
ment services and public
spaces. As a business owner, philan-
thropist and American Jew who
strives to honor the dignity of
all people and to work toward a
more just and inclusive society,
I believe this is a critical
moment for our community to
mobilize in support of LGBTQ
rights. Beginning under the
leadership of my mother, Lynn,
our family’s philanthropy has
proudly supported efforts to
advance LGBTQ equality for
more than two decades. We
have seen how investments in
LGBTQ rights — in the U.S.,
Israel and in our home state
of Oklahoma — have led to
significant progress and, in
turn, helped to strengthen
communities civically, socially
and even economically.

Today, I call on all American
Jews to join with Keshet to
support the Equality Act so that
all people in the U.S. — regard-
less of their sexual orientation
or gender identity — can live
with dignity. Reach out to your
senators to tell them to vote for
the legislation. Encourage your
family and networks to do the
same. And urge Jewish organi-
zations you are a part of to join
Keshet’s coalition of partners.

We need all American Jews to
take action.

Numerous polls indicate
that roughly 80% of Americans
— including a majority of
Democrats, Republicans and
Independents — support a
bill like the Equality Act. Yet
LGBTQ people continue to
lack full legal protections in
every state.

The impact on people’s
lives has been disastrous.

For example, in Missouri, a
lesbian couple was denied an
apartment in a senior living
community because their
marriage is “not understood
in the Bible.” And in my home
state of Oklahoma, a professor
at Southeastern Oklahoma
State University was denied
tenure and not permitted to
reapply to teach the following
school year after she came out
as transgender.

The safety and dignity of
LGBTQ workers should not
depend on the generosity
of individual employers.

Similarly, housing security for
LGBTQ tenants should not
be subject to the whim of a
landlord. Passing the Equality
Act would ensure that LGBTQ
Americans nationwide —
including many members of
our own Jewish community
— would not be denied oppor-
tunities simply because of their
sexual orientation or gender
identity. Historically, many faith
groups have fueled discrimina-
tion against LGBTQ people in
the name of religion. I fear that
conservative religious voices
will continue to grow louder
in the coming weeks. That is
why Jewish communities must
uphold the ethical mandates
of our tradition by advocating
for justice, equality and basic
human dignity for LGBTQ
Americans in all 50 states —
now more than ever before.

We know that when the
Jewish community organizes
for LGBTQ rights, we make a
critical difference. For example,
in 2018, when anti-trans groups
sought to legalize discrimina-
tion against transgender people
in Massachusetts, Keshet
mobilized the largest Jewish
campaign in history to protect
transgender rights — and their
work paid off. Seventy percent
of Jewish community organi-
zations in Massachusetts,
including 100 synagogues,
joined Keshet’s campaign.

Thanks to the work of a broad
coalition of partners, including
Keshet, voters resoundingly
defeated the effort to rescind
legal protections for trans
people in Massachusetts.

When I think back to the
1980s, I’m proud that my father
embraced and supported Neill.

And under my mother’s leader-
ship, Neill went on to become a
leader in our family’s philan-
thropic efforts to advance
LGBTQ rights in Tulsa. But it is
unconscionable that nearly 40
years later, people still cannot
rely on the law to protect them.

No one should have to live in
fear that they will be fired from
a job or denied an apartment
simply for living their lives.

Passing the Equality Act
would be a major step toward
building an American society
rooted in justice and dignity for
everyone. I urge all American
Jews to join Keshet’s campaign
to help pass the Equality Act.

Together, let’s build an inclusive
future that reflects our Jewish
values and benefits us all. l
The board’s tough decision
to take this step was carefully
evaluated. The decision was
motivated by the trustees’
and professional leader-
ship’s resolute commitment
to continue and renew the
museum’s mission of telling
the inspiring stories of how
America benefited the Jewish
people in ways that weren’t
possible anywhere else in the
world, and how American
Jews contributed to “building
a more perfect Union” here in
the U.S.

We were prepared to work
through the bankruptcy
process, building on the
momentum of our recent
successes: a hit special exhibi-
tion, “Notorious RBG: The Life
Stacy Schusterman is chair of the
Charles and Lynn Schusterman
Family Philanthropies.

NMAJH Set to Rebound in 2021
BY MISHA GALPERIN
14 APRIL 1, 2021
“The reports of my death have bankruptcy protection. The goal
been greatly exaggerated ...”
was to reduce the unsustainable
— Mark Twain burden of debt the institution
had been carrying since the 2010
ON MARCH 3, 2020 — just opening of its magnificent new
over a year ago — I wrote a building on Independence Mall
piece for this very publication in Philadelphia overlooking
entitled “Is American Jewish Independence Hall and the
History Worth Telling?”
Liberty Bell (with its inscrip-
The National Museum tion from Leviticus, “Proclaim
of American Jewish History liberty throughout all the
had just filed for Chapter 11 land”).

JEWISH EXPONENT
See Galperin, Page 26
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM