Jewish Labor Committee Congratulates President Stuart Appelbaum for Affirming His Gay Identity
June 29, 2009 -- New York: The Jewish Labor Committee congratulates its president Stuart Appelbaum for becoming the first lay-leader of a national Jewish organization and international labor leader in the United States to openly affirm that he is gay. Appelbaum's announcement came as part of the ongoing effort to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York State. Last month, President Appelbaum joined the board of directors of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, the non-profit educational affiliate of ESPA, New York State's LGBT lobbying group.
"I have always believed that the only way to challenge injustice is by organizing people for change," Appelbaum told The Huffington Post on June 18. "That's why I first became involved in the labor movement. But change also requires being honest with each other and ourselves. For me, that means recognizing that the time has long passed for me to step forward and say: `yes, I'm gay.'"
Sybil Sanchez, Executive Director of the Jewish Labor Committee, congratulated President Appelbaum on his openness. "Stuart is a leader above the fray for the labor movement and the Jewish community, and now for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people in their fight for equal rights," noted Ms. Sanchez. "His bravery in publicly connecting his personal life story with his political beliefs is to be admired and emulated and we are proud of him."
Mr. Appelbaum told New York's Gay City News, "I am defining myself publicly, and not just defining myself privately. That's what makes a difference. I wanted to make my public role not just as a labor leader or Jewish labor leader, but as a gay Jewish labor leader."
As President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Appelbaum has worked with marginalized grocery store workers in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and expanded the union's activities on behalf of poultry workers in the south. In landmark advocacy, he also secured for the first time in the United States a day off for Somali workers at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN, to observe the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.
As President of the Jewish Labor Committee, he has led the organization's campaign to garner Jewish communal support for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, while leading the fight against attempts within the trade union movements in Europe and elsewhere to boycott Israel. He was recently honored as a Jewish leader by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for leading JLC's social justice effort in bringing labor and Jews together in order to provide and distribute 50,000 pounds of kosher chicken to New Yorkers.
Appelbaum's LGBT activism resonates the same way as his labor activism, and in a way that many consider characteristically Jewish - with an emphasis on unity and action. "It is an honor to join with my brothers and sisters in labor, the Jewish world, and the LGBT community in solidarity as we seek justice and repair of the world." he said.