JTA — For the past decade, I have been working, along with my colleagues at Eshel, to increase the acceptance of LGBTQ individuals in the Orthodox Jewish world. This is our organization’s mission: to achieve more embracing and validation of those in the queer world who are also religiously observant and just want to be accepted, to be able to observe and to have community.

For years, we were moving the needle steadily and finding more and more synagogues, rabbis and communities — ranging from those completely happy to have our LGBTQ religious Jews in their community to those who were guarded and a bit reluctant — willing to learn and join in our work.

We were making progress, with 318 shuls, rabbis and communities in our growing list of resources and places for those seeking community.

My colleagues and I knew from the beginning there would be challenges, setbacks and places we still could not go. But after years of engaging in this important work and seeing progress, I am observing a reverse trend. Our world has become increasingly divided, politically polarized, socially conservative and, sad to say, in some cases, less accepting.

Sadly, a political and cultural cloud has spread in recent years. I have had to help individuals and families move to different states in the United States due to legislation that would harm them and to Jewish communities that........

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