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Susan Dempsey

Interview with Susan Dempsey for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Susan (she/her) is a Jewish woman, born in St. Catharines, ON and living in Victoria. She identifies with the lesbian community, but confides the idea of a sexuality without boundaries is something she’s getting more used to. Susan shares about her parents’ and their respective upbringings and livelihoods as mostly assimilated Jews in Chicago and Toronto or Southern Ontario. She talks about chosen family like her klezmer bandmates in the Klezbians, coming out to her family, and when she realized herself that she was a lesbian. She reflects on her childhood and growing up aware of political events like the JFK assassination. She talks about eventually finding the field of psychology, studying in St. Catharines, working in peer counseling initiatives and non-profits. Susan talks about relationships and reconnecting to the Jewish community through feminist and/or lesbian Seders after negative experiences and ambivalence. She talks about the Klezbians and feeling valued to queer and Jewish communities, wondering about the place for young people in current Jewish community, and wishing she was more proud to be Jewish and out throughout her life.

Lauren Nackman

Interview with Lauren Nackman for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Lauren (she/her) is a Jewish lesbian, born in Middletown, NY, and residing in Victoria, BC. Lauren retraces her family history from Eastern Europe to the Bronx in New York, and touches on the intergenerational legacies of immigrant life seen in her parents and grandparents. She talks about her siblings and memories of coming out. Lauren recalls going to university in Virginia where she realized she was gay in a place not safe to be openly out, prompting her to co-found a group for lesbians on campus. Lauren talks about moving to Oakland with her then-girlfriend, and working with a women’s need clinic, attempting teachers college, but ending up in LA working in the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center which introduced her to gay activism. She talks about attempting to reclaim Judaism multiple times but not being inspired by the services and experiencing financial barriers to participating. She talks about moving to BC, and becoming active in lesbian Seders where the Klezbians were formed. She talks about marrying her partner Michelle when they moved to Canada. She talks about her parents growth in acceptance of her being gay. She talks about being thankful to be part of a history that aided present-day queer acceptance and closes with reflections on queer and Jewish community.

Jonathan Lerner

Interview with Jonathan Lerner for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Jonathan (he/him) is a gay Jewish man, who was born in Toronto and currently resides in Lantzville, BC. Jonathan shares about his family history briefly, how he knew he was gay and how he came out to acceptance from his mom and sister. He talks about pursuing theater in post-secondary education, and how he volunteered within Hillel and other Jewish campus groups. He talks about being the first openly gay president of the Jewish branch of fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi and what campus life was like for a gay Jew. Jonathan talks about how Hillel came to be involved in Vancouver Pride in 2010 and how more Jewish organizations came to participate with time. He recalls Yad b’Yad, a group for queer Jews and allies, and their difficulties with Vancouver’s Queer Film Festival, anti-zionism, antisemitism and the concept of pinkwashing; a conflict that directly declined Yad b’Yad’s perceived safety in the community and their success as an organization. Jonathan recalls organizing a community vigil for lives lost through homophobic violence and being part of CIJA’s LGBTQ Advisory committee. Jonathan closes by reflecting on how the queer Jewish experience has changed over time and life lessons that have come from this time.

Ruth Simkin

Interview with Ruth Simkin for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Madison Slobin via remote Zoom video call. Ruth (she/her) is a queer Jewish woman who was born in Winnipeg, currently residing in Victoria, B.C. She explains how she used to subscribe to the ‘lesbian’ label, but no longer feels connected to one identity. Ruth recalls her family history in rural Manitoba, including her parents, grandparents and siblings, their livelihoods and her relationships with them. Ruth talks about coming out to her family in her twenties, and her experience with getting married to a man at age 18. She discusses her connections to Jewish community, and how being Jewish was understood by her peers throughout her education. Ruth speaks to her pride in being a doctor and a writer, including having written a feminist Haggadah called ‘Like an Orange on a Seder Plate’. Ruth talks about how writing has become an important outlet for her as she became a wheelchair user. Ruth also discusses queer political organizing in Calgary, and coming to B.C. after ending a serious relationship. She discusses how she went back to school to study palliative care while living on Salt Spring Island, and moving to Victoria once working full time as a palliative care doctor. She closes by talking about being a grandmother, but also the relationship between the Jewish and queer communities.

Reva Hutkin

Part 3 of interview with Reva Hutkin for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Reva recalls to her time in Montreal being active in Jewish lesbian community. She discusses having lesbian Seders which focused on women’s empowerment and Jewish women’s inclusion concerning Seder. She also participated in Jewish queer writing group that produced a queer Haggadah.

Reva Hutkin

Part 2 of interview with Reva Hutkin for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Reva talks about her involvement in a Jewish LGBTQ+ group called HaChud, which was a group active out of Temple Sholom in Vancouver during the late 1970s.

Reva Hutkin

Part 1 of interview with Reva Hutkin for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Reva (she/her) is a Jewish lesbian who was born in Montreal and residing in Victoria, B.C. Reva recalls her parents and grandparents and their origins in Eastern Europe and livelihoods in Montreal. Reva discusses realizing she was a lesbian while in a heterosexual marriage at age 21 and the distance her family kept when coming out, though finding acceptance being out in her communities, both in person and online. Reva describes her school life growing up with sports and literature, but also antisemitism and fear of communism in Montreal. She talks about university life, working in offices and prominent relationships she hard throughout her adulthood including her current partner Julie. She talks about how she ended up in B.C., how her and Julie met, and having a partner that is also Jewish. Reva talks about her children and grandchildren and how they’ve accepted her as a lesbian, and how they relate to Judaism in their own ways. She closes with the reflection of the importance of self-work and personal change.

Reva Hutkin

Interview with Reva Hutkin as part of the BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project, in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. In part 1, Reva shares her experience being both lesbian and Jewish in Canada. Reva discusses not being accepted by her family. In part 2, Reva talks about her involvement in a Jewish LGBTQ+ group called HaChud. In part 3, Reva discusses a feminist Haggadah and lesbian Seders.

More detailed summaries are provided on the respective Part 1, 2, 3 pages nested herein.

Julie Elizabeth

Interview with Julie Elizabeth for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Julie (she/her) talks about her involvement in community organizing, including her time with Victoria Lesbian Senior Care Society or VLSCS.

Julie Elizabeth

Interview with Julie Elizabeth for On The Record: The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Interviewed by Carmel Tanaka via remote Zoom video call. Julie (she/her) is a queer Jewish woman, born in Toronto and residing in Victoria, B.C. Julie shares about her parents’ lives in Toronto and family origins based in Russia. She talks about various childhood memories including the close relationships with her father and sister, but also the struggles of family members living with mental illness. Julie talks about rediscovering her father’s family connections in Montreal, leading her back to family history in France. Julie talks about discovering her bisexuality and being discouraged from coming out to her mother. She also talks about her journey with Judaism: as a child alienated from upper class Jewish kids in Toronto, to having a bat mitzvah on her 65th birthday after feeling acceptance and belonging on Salt Spring Island with her partner Reva. Julie talks about her education and career changes over her life. She talks about living with Reva and being accepted by her family. She closes with advice to ‘follow ones bliss’ and anecdotes about trying other religions like Wicca to find herself, and ultimately her way back to Judaism.

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