For World Pride, a DC Museum Exhibit Explores LGBTQ Jewish Identity
In the shadow of a tragic shooting at the Capital Jewish Museum, the exhibit “LGBTJews in the Federal City” celebrates the resilience of the Jewish community in Washington, DC.
By Kriston Capps
June 8, 2025 at 5:01 AM PDT
On May 15, the Capital Jewish Museum opened its largest-ever exhibit. The museum in downtown Washington, DC, had spent several years compiling oral histories and gathering materials to tell the story of the city’s queer Jewish community. It just so happened that DC was selected to host the World Pride festival this summer — a stroke of good luck for the opening of “LGBTJews in the Federal City.”
A week later, tragedy struck. On May 21, an alleged gunman shot and killed a young couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum. Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, both employees of the Israeli Embassy, were attending a Jewish diplomatic reception held at the building.
The celebratory vibes at the opening-night party gave way to somber reflection at a museum reopening and dedication ceremony on May 29. Faith and civic leaders, including DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, spoke about the senselessness of the violence that claimed the lives of Lischinsky and Milgrim. And they spoke about the resilience of Jewish life and faith in the city — which is very much the subject of the exhibit.
“Their story was part of DC’s Jewish story and therefore part of the museum’s story,” said Beatrice Gurwitz, executive director of the Capital Jewish Museum.
Community is at the heart of the exhibit. That might seem pat, but the way that the show traces the history of queer Jewish life in DC is special. “LGBTJews in the Federal City” explores how Jewish organizations and families evolved to accommodate and embrace their LGBTQ members. Many of the artifacts come from the museum’s materials on Bet Mishpachah, which opened in 1975 as the nation’s fourth LGBTQ-friendly synagogue. But the exhibit also tracks the long history of discrimination that queer people faced in synagogues, and that Jewish people felt, too, in LGBTQ spaces. There are materials about Benjamin Karpman, a Jewish immigrant psychiatrist who served as the chief psychotherapist at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, a federal mental asylum, where Karpman championed harsh treatments to “cure” homosexuality. The museum is not shy about telling difficult stories.
The exhibit is sprawling: It starts with a discussion about how various denominations of Judaism approach notions of sin and sexuality, featuring commentary from rabbis and text from the Tanakh — condensing centuries of debate into a single display. Curator Sarah Leavitt, working with a collection organized by Jonathan Edelman, built not just an exhibit but an archive. The sheer amount of text can be overwhelming at times, with dense presentations of flyers, posters and pins. But it offers a deep well of materials on how the city changed over many eras. Some of the time capsules are delightful: In the 1880s, for example, men used to meet to hook up in Lafayette Park, right across the street from the White House.
Like so many stories about Washington, “LGBTJews in the Federal City” reveals two histories. One focus is the capital: The exhibit explores the moral panic known as the Lavendar Scare, which saw thousands of gay staffers drummed out of the federal workforce. It tracks the roles of Jewish figures in organizing and participating in protests during the AIDS crisis. Stories about the federal government naturally have a home in a Washington museum. But “LGBTJews” is also local, highlighting the people who call the District home. The exhibit features a ball gown worn by the city’s most famous Jewish drag queen, Ester Goldberg, who performed in the 1990s — and was a guest of honor at the opening-night party.
“LGBTJews” showcases some of the more famous markers of gay and Jewish life in DC, such as the Silence = Death Collective poster promoted by activist Larry Kramer and ACT UP. Keith Haring’s pins and posters for AIDS marches on Washington are enduring works of art. Some of the most moving objects on display, however, are the simpler articles of faith, such as a hand-drawn Jewish lesbian feminist Haggadah for a DC seder in 1982.
Washington doesn't suffer for museums about American history. But the city itself is overshadowed by its status as the capital and overlooked by the federal museums along the National Mall. “LGBTJews in the Federal City” may be a destination for tourists visiting for World Pride, but it shouldn’t be missed by locals. The District’s queer Jewish history is vibrant — and still being written.