Thursday, February 19, 2026
5 pm Pacific/6 pm Mountain/7 pm Central/8 pm Eastern
Join us for a conversation on Jewish queer lesbian feminism with a panel of founders and central players in the movement—Evelyn Torton Beck, Irena Klepfisz and Sabrina Sojourner—moderated by Marla Brettschneider. You can expect a lively exchange on the development of Jewish queer lesbian feminism—its history and challenges—with a look at issues faced over the years and how these are playing out today.
Marla Brettschneider, PhD, is an activist and Professor of political theory at the University of New Hampshire with a joint appointment in Women's and Gender Studies & Political Science and International Affairs. Her work is on Jewish diversity politics and political theory. Marla has published widely, with many award-winning books particularly on Jewish, feminist, queer, lesbian, anti-racist, class based, & de-colonial subjects such as: Jewcy: Jewish Queer Lesbian Feminism for the 21st Century, Jewish Feminism & Intersectionality, The Family Flamboyant: Race Politics, Queer Families, Jewish Lives, and her new work: Revolutionary Legacies: Jewish Feminist Political Thinking with Jamaica Kincaid, Golda Meir, Hannah Arendt, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, & Emma Goldman.
Evelyn (Evi) Torton Beck, PhD, Professor Emerita, University of Maryland, is a scholar/activist, who holds PhDs in both Comparative Literature and Clinical Psychology. In 2021, she was received an Honorary Doctorate in Vienna, Austria for her life’s work in the creation of interdisciplinary Women’s Studies and her continuing fight against anti-Semitism, homophobia, and all “isms” that divide us. She is the editor of the ground-breaking Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology (1982, rev. ed. 1987). Her writings include research on Franz Kafka, Frida Kahlo, Jewish Women’s Studies, Lesbian Studies, as well as feminist transformations of knowledge. A short film Evi Torton Beck: Never in My Wildest Dreams (2025) was made about her in Vienna.
Irena Klepfisz, PhD, is a lesbian, poet activist who identifies also as a practicing secular Jew. Her most recent work Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems 1971-1921 (Wesleyan UP), which received the Audre Lorde Award for Lesbian Poetry from the Publishing Triangle and was a finalist for National Jewish Book Award in Poetry. She is currently trying to preserve her late partner Judith Waterman's artwork and make it better known.
Sabrina Sojourner, a Shaliakh Tzibur and community chaplain, has been leading services, teaching, and cultivating curiosity within Judaism for nearly 20 years. She is a featured speaker, scholar-in-residence, and faculty at synagogues, conferences, retreats, and Shabbatons across the country. In 2018, she launched Training the Heart to Listen, a conversational approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Based on Jewish values, the design invites participants to use their spirituality, the sacredness of their community, and the values of their faith tradition for this important, and often difficult, discussion.