Top 15 Abby Stein Quotes

(on the Women's March:) "We are coming together with unity, not uniformity."

(On gender transition:) "It's hard, but it's possible."

To some extent, leaving the community was even harder than transitioning. I had no idea what I was getting into. I didn't know anyone, couldn't speak the language, and didn't have an education. I didn't know how to dress. I didn't know how to talk. I remember the first time walking into a Starbucks, I was like, 'OK, what's happening here?' The culture shock is just in every level, every way. It's like being an immigrant in your own country.

People use religion, dogma, community as an excuse to justify their own intolerance, or their own phobia from something that doesn't fit into their conceived notions of gender and of identity.

It’s past talking time. The time to say: ‘We’ll pray, and we’ll be fine’ is long over.

People exotic-ise you [trans individuals) in a weird way. They conflate sexuality and gender, which have nothing to do with each other. If you date women, it's like, 'Oh, you like women, so you wanted to become one'. If you like guys, it's 'Oh, you're gay, but you didn't want to be, so you transitioned'.

Society expects trans women to be perfect the way they expect all women to be perfect.

When and if, all the Jews, Muslims, LGBTQIA, People of Color, People of less privileged socio-economic status, and so on, with the help of allies, gather to cry out loud: “WE RESIST” there is nothing we cannot accomplish!

The most effective path to resistance is when the persecuted, in whichever way it is, gather to fight back, together.

Some religions might have at least a facade of a very anti-LGBT or very non-progressive culture so to speak -- or like you can't be religious and be whatever. I'm telling you from experience that yes you can. You might have to make it work but thankfully we live in a place and in a time when there's a lot of communities with a lot of places that you can find support.

I say to a lot of people who struggle [with coming out] — they're always afraid how it's going to affect their family — and to me it's always family is really important, but there has to be a 'you' that can be part of a family. If there's no 'you,' [you can't] be part of the family.

I have mood swings, but I can deal with that by watching Netflix and eating pickles.

I wanted to show that if you claim being trans is unacceptable in traditional Judaism, well, here is a community that is not just okay with accepting me as I am, but is celebrating with me, rejoicing with me. What I’m hoping is that by sharing my story, others in the same situation will realize that you can have your name changed in a synagogue. There are so many synagogues where you can’t, but there are also those where you can — the Jewish Reform movement, the Conservative movement. Within Orthodoxy, there’s still a long way to go. Every time something like this is done, it’s one step closer to acceptance for everyone.

You’re saying God is all made up, but okay, who cares? People say, “I can’t pray because I feel like I’m talking to myself.” The rabbi would say, “Pray! That’s so good. Go talk to yourself.”

I loved the way Judaism does life cycle events. I loved the idea of having one day of the week off. (Even though, if I don’t believe, there’s no reason why it would be Saturday and not Tuesday). I related to Jewish music, to the food, and even the spirituality part, I’ll admit it.