Synagogues

The first gay synagogue,

Beth Chayim Chadashim in Los Angeles, founded in 1972. The synagogue was formed after two gay men and two lesbians attending a rap session at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Community Church  in April 1972 discovered they were all Jewish and decided to form a Temple of their own. Continuing to meet at MCC till it burned,, they held their first service in July 1972 and were chartered two years later by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. In 1977 the congregation acquired its own building, dedicated in 1981

The Largest Gay Synagogue

Congregation Beth Simchat Torah in New York. Founded in 1973, this the second gay synagogue in the US., is the largest in the world with more than a thousand members