Hillel Talk Focuses On Gay Experiences

An active member of Boston's gay and Jewish communities discussed how he has synthesized these two aspects of his identity in a speech last night at Harvard-Radcliffe Hillel.

In the program, called "Being Gay and Jewish; One Person's Story," David Posser shared some of his experiences as a gay man and a Reformed Jew.

Posser, who is the administrative manager at the Fenway Community Health Center for gays and lesbians, said he revitalized a gay students' organization at the University of Cincinnati, where he was an undergraduate.

Posser and his companion, Mark Maxwell, joined Am Tikvah, Boston's community of gay and lesbian Jews, when they moved to Boston in 1981.

"This was the synthesis I had been looking forward to for a long time," Posser said. "The two parts of my life, being gay and Jewish, came together in one place."

"More than half of the members of Am Tikvah were disillusioned with no place to fit in. The organization was revitalizing," he said.

"We are striving for a perfect world, in which all Jews can come together in one community and worship together, respecting each other's differences," Posser said.

Posser also joined Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in Boston. He and Maxwell were accepted for membership as a family, Posser said.

"Leaders of the congregation felt the temple was not complete until they could embrace all Jews," he said.