Trans People and Questions of Jewish Law

aaron devor, photo by blake little
Aaron Devor, photo by Blake Little

Aaron Devor will provide a presentation on transgender people and questions of Jewish law. Many Jewish Laws and practices are focussed on rights and obligations of Jewish males and females. In many cases, the same rules apply to all adults, but in some cases there are different requirements for males and females. People who transition genders in their everyday lives, and who may also may use hormones and surgeries to change their bodies, present challenges for Jewish Law. The talk will start with some basic information about what can be involved in transgender transitions, and then explain some of the challenges and solutions for the application of Jewish law within Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox communities.

 
Aaron Devor, PhD, initiated and holds the inaugural position as the world’s only Chair in Transgender Studies. He is the Founder and Academic Director of the world’s largest Transgender Archives, and Founder and host of the international, interdisciplinary Moving Trans History Forward conferences. He is the author of numerous well-cited scholarly articles and three enduring books, FTM: Female-Io-Male Transsexuals in Society (2016, 1997), The Transgender Archives: Foundations for the Future (2014), and Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989). He has delivered more than 20 keynote addresses worldwide and won many awards for his transgender work, including the Virginia Prince Pioneer Award, a national Equity Award, and awards from the University of Victoria for Outstanding Community Outreach, and for Advocacy and Activism in Equity and Diversity. His book about the Transgender Archives was also a Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award.

He is an elected senior member of the International Academy of Sex Research, and was chosen as a Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. He is Historian for the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and has been involved in writing versions of the WPATH Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People since 1999. He is also overseeing the translation of Version 7 into world languages. Devor is a former Dean of Graduate Studies (2002-2012), a national-award-winning teacher, and a professor of Sociology at the University of Victoria.