Major Jewish groups pledge to end GLBT bullying

The Jewish community is rallying behind a pledge to end homophobic bullying and harassment.

“Do Not Stand Idly By,” launched Tuesday, has been signed by more than 3.500 Jews and Jewish institutions, including more than 400 rabbis. Signatories pledge to stop bullying or harassment of GLBT persons in their communities, and speak out when they see it. 

“I’m not surprised by the response but I do think it is unprecedented, if only because ‘the Jewish community’ hasn’t been asked in this way to make such a public statement,” said Idit Klein, executive director of Keshet, an organization working for Jewish GLBT inclusion.

Keshet launched the campaign Tuesday in partnership with 90 cosponsors, including the official bodies and rabbinical associations of the Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Jewish Renewal movements, Hillel International, the Reform and Conservative youth movements, and a large number of Jewish day schools and federations. The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation also cosponsored the pledge, which can be read at http://tinyurl.com/donotstandidlyby.

The campaign was inspired, Klein said, by six GLBT teens who committed suicide in the past month. The title of the pledge comes from Leviticus 19:16,  which exhorts Jews not to “stand idly by” when they see another person harmed.

The names of all the signatories will be released Oct. 11, National Coming Out Day.

According to Keshet, a 2009 report from the American Association of Pediatrics claims that nearly one in four GLBT teenagers attempts suicide.