Abby Stein

Abby Stein is an American transgender activist, Blogger and speaker. She is the first openly trans woman from a Hasidic community, and descendant of Hasidic Judaism's founder the Baal Shem Tov. Biography: Stein was born in 1991 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. She is the 6th child out of 13 to a family of notable Hasidic leaders. She grew up speaking Yiddish and Hebrew, and attended an all boys Jewish Day School, in a society where everything is determined by gender roles. For High school she went to the Viznitz Yeshiva in Kiamesha Lake, Upstate New York, from where she also got a Rabbinical degree in 2011. In 2012 She left the Hasidic community, and went off the derech, and in 2014 she started school at Columbia University's School of General Studies. Coming Out: In November 2015 Stein made headlines when she came out on her blog as transgender, and started physical transition. She was featured in most major news papers, such as New York Times, New York Post, New York Magazine, Daily Dot, Daily Mail and more. She also appeared on TV, on CNN, Fox News, and HuffPost Live. When Stein left her community in 2012 and came out as an Atheist, her parents said that "No matter what happens, no matter how you are, you are still my child." However, when she came out as trans, her father told her that "You should know that this means I might not be able to talk to you ever again." Since then her parents shunned her, and stopped talking with her altogether. She has also received some hate from her former community, though in a interview with Chasing News (a Fox News Short film company) she said that she got way less hate than some people would have expected. Stein was featured in the 2016 Showtime Documentary series, Dark Net, in episode 8, "Revolt." Name Change: On Saturday morning, June 4, 2016, Stein celebrated her transition with a celebration and name change at Romemu, a Jewish Renewal synagogue on NYC's Upper West Side. In an interview with The Huffington Post she said that even tough she doesn't believe in God, she wanted to celebrate in a synagogue: "I wanted to show that if you claim being trans is unacceptable in traditional Judaism, well, here is a community that is not just okay with accepting me as I am, but is celebrating with me, rejoicing with me. What I’m hoping is that by sharing my story, others in the same situation will realize that you can have your name changed in a synagogue. There are so many synagogues where you can’t, but there are also those where you can — the Jewish Reform movement, the Conservative movement. Within Orthodoxy, there’s still a long way to go. Every time something like this is done, it’s one step closer to acceptance for everyone." Honors and Awards: -The Jewish Week 36 Under 36. In 2016 she was named by The Jewish Week as one of the "36 Under 36" young Jews who change the world, she is the first Trans person ever to get this award. -Footsteps Leadership Award. At the 2016 Footsteps Celebrates She received a leadership award for "Her outstanding leadership in advancing Footsteps stories in literature and Voice". -New York Magazine 50 Reasons to Love New York. In 2015, the New York Magazine counted her story as one of the 50 reasons to love New York, saying that New Yorkers are overly accepting of trans people. -9 Jewish LGBTQ Activists You Should Know. In June 2016 she was named by The Times of Israel and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency as one of the nine "most influential Jews who have helped make LGBTQ issues visible and are still working to enact change." Personal life: In 2010 Stein married a woman, Fraidy Howrowitz, with whom she also had her son, Duvid. As Stein left the community, she divorced her wife. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal right after her divorce she said that "They had a good relationship," and that at the time of the divorce she was able to "obtain a "normal agreement," including weekly visits, joint custody, split holidays, joint decision-making on major life events and every second weekend with her son." Her current sexuality is not clear. She also refuses to talk about her current relationship with her son in public, she just says that "nothing has changed (relating to her son) since she came out."