Warmth of community, heat of hostility: Yona Speidel’s Jewish journey

Hours after completing her conversion to Judaism, Yona Speidel, a prominent transgender Emmy-nominated television writer and producer formerly known as Our Lady J, experienced an anti-Semitic slur. A man yelled “f*** Jews” from across the street as she left a celebratory dinner with her rabbi.

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f*** Jews.

Speidel recalled her rabbi’s response: “Welcome.” She responded, “Oh, great, I’m home.” The incident, though jarring, marked the conclusion of a decade-long exploration of Judaism for Speidel, who found the faith offered a spiritual home that embraced her full identity.

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Welcome.

Speidel, who learned as an adult that she is intersex, felt a deep connection to Judaism after discovering the Hebrew Bible passage Isaiah 56, which promises a place for eunuchs in the Temple. This passage made her intersex and trans identity feel “seen and awakened,” leading her to believe that Judaism could uplift and embrace her, not just tolerate her.

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Oh, great, I’m home.

Her journey toward Judaism began years ago, with an early attraction to Jewish culture, which she later realized drew her to New York City. She became the first openly trans writer hired in a television writers’ room for the show “Transparent,” which focuses on a Jewish family. During her immersion in researching Judaism for the show, she began conversion classes but paused them, unsure if there was space for her. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to re-engage with faith and spirituality, finding that Judaism could hold the complexities she needed to process.

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Over a period of 12 years of casually dating Judaism, I eventually got engaged when I realized that Judaism holds so much space for all of me, and then some.