Pride Month Special: The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie

SHOW NOTES: https://jewishbooks.blogspot.com/2025/06/pride-month-special-gender-binary-is.html 

TRANSCRIPT: https://otter.ai/u/0xdCC0WUSVL8flI0x3kljyCApps?utm_source=copy_url

I don't normally interview an author about a single chapter of a book, but for my friend Lee Wind, I'm making an exception. He's written a fascinating nonfiction book, The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie: Infinite Identities Around the World, and Chapter 2 is about "The Six Genders of Classical Judaism." I just had to learn more.

We also talked about his two new picture books (both featuring 2-dad families), Like That Eleanor: The Amazing Power of Being an Ally and Banana Menorah.

In addition to writing great kids' books about gender, Judaism, and allyship, Lee is literally a champion against censorship. He received the 2025 Industry Champion Award from the Book Industry Study Group for his project called We Are Stronger Than Censorship. Lee tells us more in the interview. 

For bonus content (Jewish kidlit news and calls to action), sign up for The Book of Life Substack Newsletter.

LEARN MORE: 

• Buy or borrow The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie

• Buy or borrow Like That Eleanor

• Buy or borrow Banana Menorah

• Teaching guides

• Lee Wind’s website

• We Are Stronger Than Censorship project (Lee won an award for it!)

• Independent Book Publishers Association (Lee’s day job)

• My Queer Jewish Kidlit bibliography - updated

CREDITS:

• Produced by Feldman Children's Library at Congregation B'nai Israel
• Co-sponsored by the Association of Jewish Libraries
• Sister podcast: Nice Jewish Books
• Theme Music: The Freilachmakers Klezmer String Band
• Newsletter: bookoflifepodcast.substack.com
• Facebook Discussion Group: Jewish Kidlit Mavens
• Facebook Page: .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}