The largest Jewish group in the US is set to announce what may be the most liberal and far-reaching resolution about transgender rights of any organised religion.
The Reform Jewish Movement will at its biennial conference on Thursday consider a proposal that affirms the equality of transgender people and welcomes them into congregations, camps and other institutions.
The resolution calls for Reform Jewish congregations and camps to have gender-neutral bathrooms, encourages gender-neutral language at Reform Jewish institutions and suggests training on gender issues for religious school staff, the Associated Press reported.
@ReformMovement heading out to the @URJBiennial #inspiration #learning
Other religious bodies - among them the Episcopal Church, the United Church of Christ, the Unitarian Universalist Association and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association - have previously approved resolutions affirming equality for transgender people.
Yet none have gone as far as the one offered by the Union for Reform Judaism, said Michael Toumayan, manager of the Religion and Faith Programme at the Humans Rights Campaign, the civil rights group for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people.
The move comes at a time when transgender people are receiving greater attention as a result of high-profile cases of people such as Caitlyn Jenner and others. At the same time, campaigners say that increased visibility has gone hand in hand with an “epidemic” of violent and often deadly attacks directed at transgender people.
Officials at the group say the resolution has been in the works for some time and is part of a tradition of inclusion that dates back decades. The Union of Reform Judaism in 1977 passed a resolution affirming the rights of gays and lesbians.
"Within our congregations, this is a natural evolution rather than some wholesale departure or new direction," said Barbara Weinstein.
A decade ago, Elliot Kukla came out as the first openly transgender rabbi ordained in the Reform Jewish movement.
