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JQ International opens its WeHo doors

It was 9 p.m. on a Thursday and Asher Gellis, founder of the out-and-proud nonprofit JQ International, was sitting on a barstool at Revolver, a West Hollywood hot spot, as scantily clad performers shimmied on tabletops.
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May 21, 2015

It was 9 p.m. on a Thursday and Asher Gellis, founder of the out-and-proud nonprofit JQ International, was sitting on a barstool at Revolver, a West Hollywood hot spot, as scantily clad performers shimmied on tabletops. 

Earlier that evening, his blooming organization had hosted a housewarming party upstairs — complete with a mezuzah hanging — at its new headquarters. Referred to as “JQlub,” the new digs are a big transition for JQ, which up until the previous week was run out of Gellis’ Echo Park apartment.

Nearly 100 people attended JQlub’s unveiling, the air charged with excitement as board members and community allies scouted the cozy 800 square feet of new territory. With brand-new floors, teal walls and big, bright windows that overlook the traffic and neon signage of Santa Monica Boulevard, JQlub’s new space feels more like a Greenwich Village studio loft than a nonprofit’s meeting space. Then again, JQ isn’t your typical nonprofit.

It goes back to when Gellis, now 39, was 26 and undergoing major life transitions. He had just left his job within the Jewish community, broken up with his Jewish boyfriend and was left thinking, “Where do I go now?” Searching for his place within Judaism, he founded a community of his own with JQ. 

“It started as a community and then turned into a nonprofit,” Gellis said.

Currently, JQ is an integral resource for the Jewish LGBTQ community, spearheading programs for teens (The Valley Jewish Queer Straight Alliance) as well as organizations, schools and workplaces (Inclusion Consulting). It also offers a social service referral call center for LGBTQ individuals and their families (The Warmline). JQ even paired with Birthright to help host two LGBTQ-friendly trips within the last three years, with more trips slated.

That’s all to say JQ has been busy, but it couldn’t have done it alone.

“It’s amazing to be a gay Jew now, when the Jewish community has made the LGBTQ cause their No. 1 cause,” Gellis said enthusiastically. With hands-on support from The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, he said, “We’re not just getting funding, we’re getting partnership.”

Scott Minkow, vice president of partnerships and innovation for Federation, spoke at the JQlub housewarming, giving credit to Federation president Jay Sanderson and others. He said he’s proud of the work Federation and JQ are accomplishing together.

“This is not the Federation of your parents,” he said. “This is not even the Federation of five, 10 years ago.”

JQ board member Neil Spears gushed about the need for JQ and its new space. Before the ceremony, he told the Journal, “It’s important that we have a space, but what’s more important is what’s going to happen here.” 

Todd Shotz, founder of Hebrew Helpers and chair of JQ’s board of directors, told the Journal that JQ finally gave him a place to embrace both of his identities: “I’m Jewish and I’m gay,” he said. 

Shotz was one of many volunteers who labored for a month renovating JQlub. “I painted those floorboards,” he said, pointing to his craftsmanship. And after all that sweat and toil, “I’m glad we finally have our own space,” Shotz said.

“It’s a miracle in the LGBT world,” mused Rabbi Rachel Bat-Or about JQ’s existence. She officiated the ceremony at JQlub for hanging a mezuzah — a ceramic tallit inscribed with the Hebrew letter shin

“Everyone who walks through this space is protected by the doorposts of Israel,” Bat-Or told the Journal after everyone had left the space and gone downstairs for an after-party at Revolver. Bat-Or, also a family therapist, runs The Warmline and said it received 450 calls last year, and more are expected this year.

Meanwhile downstairs, JQ board members and allies mingled at the nightclub. Gellis was the man of the night, as people lined up to speak with him. When Gellis was a teen, he said, he remembers haunting similar establishments; not prepared to “come out,” he’d occasionally muster up the confidence to frequent these spots solo. 

“It was horrifying and terrifying. I’d walk in, walk around the tables and walk out,” he reminisced about his gay club rendezvous while sipping a cocktail. But now, 20 years later, his offices and headquarters are located just above this thriving nightclub. 

It’s a big step for JQ’s founder, who instead of attending this club solo, was accompanied by his French boyfriend, Arthur Guillosson, sitting proudly by his side. 

“He’s one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met,” said Guillosson about Gellis. “He reconnected me with my Judaism.”

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