JPride is three years old, and while it is not the first Jewish GLBT group to exist in San Diego, it is the first to be affiliated with a larger Jewish organization. JPride is a program of the Jewish Community Center (JCC).

Programming by JPride consists of events that bring Jewish and GLBT issues together. The variety of events offered include social, religious, cultural or educational themes, among others. Examples of past events include the screening of Yossi & Jagger, a film about a same-sex relationship in the Israeli army, at the 2004 San Diego Jewish Film Festival, a lecture and book signing by Rabbi Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox Rabbi, a JPride Seder featuring a Haggadah (prayer book) specifically focused on GLBT issues, and frequent Shabbat services and dinners at local GLBT-friendly and welcoming synagogues.

In addition to these events, JPride has participated in communitywide events such as The Center’s annual gala, San Diego AIDS Walk and the San Diego LGBT Pride parade and festival.

JPride administrator Brian Schaefer is the first, and so far only, staff person JPride has been able to hire.

“As the administrator of JPride, I have the privilege to work closely with leaders in both the Jewish and LGBT communities,” he said.

Schaefer is a member of both The Center and UCSD’s speakers bureaus.

JPride recently received grants from the LGBT Pride Fund of the Human Dignity Foundation and the Jewish Community Foundation to further its mission of reaching out to the Jewish GLBT community in San Diego, encouraging both Jewish and GLBT identities and creating opportunities for interconnections between the two communities.