Stay up-to-date with the community: Here’s what’s been happening this week in the Jewish/LGBT matters.

Top News

ARZA, Association of Reform Zionists of America, secured 56 seats out of a possible 145 in the World Zionist Congress elections, four of them is for LGBT people. A Wider Bridge

A bill to introduce non-religious unions, including same-sex, interfaith and others, fails in the Israeli Knesset. The Times of Israel

Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Mid-Atlantic Region, Elad Strohmayer, celebrated Israel LGBT Progress. The Jewish Exponent

A pro-Israel muslim released a video on YouTube of himself advocating his support to Israel as a gay Muslim in Trafalgar Square, London. Shalom Life

Coming Out

Jewish swimmer Jon Denton-Schneider realized that being a good teammate meant being honest. SB Nation

Local News

SAN FRANCISCO: During last year’s race for the city’s 17th Assembly District seat, one question confronting voters was whether it was important to maintain LGBT elected leadership from the city’s eastern state legislative district. The Bay Area Reporter

SAN FRANCISCO: LGBT and Israel related films at this year’s San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. A Wider Bridge

ST. LOUIS: A new initiative will to create a more inclusive St. Louis Jewish community for LGBTQ individuals and their families was awarded a grant from Jewish Federation. St. Louis Jewish Light

LGBTPhobia

Radio talk show host Dennis Prager says that rabbis who perform same-sex marriage should tell bisexual people to choose their ‘heterosexual side.’ “It seems pretty clear that rabbis who wish to be consistent with their argument that not allowing same-sex marriage is unfair to gays because they haven’t chosen to be gay would have to counsel a bisexual to confine his or her sexual activity to, and marry, the opposite sex. Bisexuals, after all, do have a choice.” Jewish Journal

Jewish Celebrities for LGBT

Jon Stewart recently slammed Justice Scalia’s gay marriage dissent during “The Daily Show” Genprogress

Reps. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., introduced the legislation with support from actress Sally Field, of a bill that prohibits programs that use conversion therapy on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender youth. Los Angeles Daily News

In Israel

The city that never sleeps has announced ‘Tel Aviv Water Games,’ a queer sports festival. A Wider Bridge

Niv Zonis just finished his studies in education and criticizes the system for ignoring subjects such as dealing with LGBT kids and LGBTphobia in schools as part of teachers and educators’ training. GoGay

Amir Gefner shares his transgender story. mako

Entertainment

Listen to TYP‘s interesting cover of ABBA’s S.O.S. The Advocate

Journalist David Thorpe had recently broken up with his boyfriend when he embarked on a personal journey to confront his anxiety of “sounding gay” – and made a movie about it. San Diego Jewish Journal

Opinions

A Wider Bridge’s Advisory Board member Chris McCannell just came back from Israel after taking part in Tel Aviv’s first LGBT leadership conference, where he heard Mayor Ed Murray’s speech, and has something to say to those who tried to prevent Mayor Murray’s from attending the conference. The Washington Blade

Cantor Juval Porat was impressed by the attention that the Knesset members gave to the transgender community. Reform Judaism

Grateful Dead’s last show made gay Jewish rapper Y-Love weep. Quartz

Jeremy Brier, a heterosexual British Jew, traveled with his gay friends to Israel for Tel Aviv’s gay Pride and found it a moving experience. The Jewish Chronicle