Yeshivat Chovevei Torah an all-male Orthodox Jewish rabbinical school in Riverdale, New York has ordained its first out gay rabbi, Tadhg Cleary.Clearys June 12 ordination ceremony came six years after the school refused to ordain another gay student whose public wedding engagement went viral online, Forward reported. The head rabbi who refused to ordain the gay student, Rabbi Dov Linzer, gave his blessing for Clearys ordination, calling him an enormous [Torah scholar] who is God-fearing, scrupulous in his observance and happens to be gay. Related 21 Jewish American LGBTQ+ people who are making history Celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month with these history-making artists and activists. We want to be giving semicha to him for the totality of who he is, not to turn him into a symbol or a statement, Linzer said. If we were interested in making a statement, you would have heard about it from us first.Cleary reportedly informed the school of his sexual orientation before he applied and said that he would only accept admittance if he could live as a fully out gay man. However, his admittance and ordination put the school in a challenging position since it follows Modern Orthodox Judaism, which combines secular ideas with a commitment to Jewish law. The Torah (the central Jewish religious text) explicitly prohibits same-sex intercourse. But progressive Orthodox Jews have long been pushing the denomination to be more inclusive. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Before his ordination, Cleary had spent over 14 years in post-secondary Torah study, including a decade at a prestigious yeshiva in Israel. Originally from New Zealand, he has run youth camps, led high holiday services, and even overseen kosher industrial slaughter, the aforementioned publication reported. While working at the Israeli yeshiva, his superiors told him that he could either keep his job or be an out gay man, but not both. He remained closeted while looking for a new workplace.The idea that I wanted to be a rabbi has been with me for a long time, said Cleary. I came to realize was that it was not a binary choice I did not have to distinguish between my life as a frum [observant] person and my life as a gay man. In fact, to live my life fully as a frum person meant to live my life as a gay man, because if the Torah is to speak to us and uplift us and sanctify us, then it must speak to the real us. Cleary now plans to marry his current partner, something the school asked that he not do during his studies, as it wasnt prepared to ordain a man in a same-sex marriage. Cleary said if he had felt strongly about marrying his partner during his rabbinical studies, he wouldnt have enrolled in the school in the first place.The school changed its prohibition on ordaining out gay students after the schools alumni, students, and former head rabbi criticized the school for choosing not to ordain a gay student in 2019. Following the blowback for its decision, the school created an advisory committee for handling out gay students and decided to consider each gay applicant individually.The number of Orthodox rabbis has been falling in recent years, and The Rabbinical Council of America, which represents Orthodox rabbis, has refused to accredit Clearys rabbinical school, effectively barring its graduates from serving in numerous Orthodox institutions nationwide. Sadly, the recent examples of Orthodox Judaisms anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment are numerous. This year, Yeshiva University, a private Orthodox Jewish school in New York City, finally recognized its on-campus LGBTQ+ student club, following a years-long legal battle.In 2023, the Kehillas Hollywood Hills Orthodox congregation in South Florida banned one of its congregants, social worker Brian Mandel, for being gay. In 2022, a teacher named Talia Avrahami, was asked to leave her Jewish Orthodox school and synagogue because of her transgender identity.Although Jewish Orthodox rabbis have argued that this religious queerphobia stems more from adherence to Jewish law rather than anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment, Orthodox Jewish queer folks and their allies have continually pushed for inclusion as valuable community members rather than accept exclusion from their faith. They point out that Orthodox institutions arent as opposed to people who violate other parts of Jewish law, like people who drive on Shabbat (the day of rest that extends from Friday evening to Saturday evening) or those who violate kosher dietary laws. And at the end of the day, we have to do whats right, Cleary said, adding that he expects some Orthodox Jewish people and organizations to hate his ordination.I guess thats part of the story of the yeshiva, he added. We do what we think is right even if it leads to certain reactions.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.