Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"By then, I had discovered that I was no longer trusted by my doctors about my own body or experiences. I reported odd, terrifying and sudden physical changes; they recommended cognitive behavioral therapy and Weight Watchers. I felt exiled from the world of the well, isolated by thick walls of suspicion. I'm used to feeling like an outsider; I'm the first openly transgender rabbi ordained by a mainstream movement (Reform Judaism). I am used to being rejected and told I should not exist. But nothing prepared me for the outsider status of being chronically ill.

"Think about that for a moment: Approximately 0.6 percent of American adults identify as transgender, just under 0.2 percent of
the world population is Jewish, and 100 percent of us will get sick, yet it is being chronically sick that makes me feel like an outsider. That's how much our society fears and rejects the core human experience of being ill, of having a body that gets sick, that ages, that is not controllable."

-- Rabbi Elliot Kukla, 2018-01-10