Always a Girl: Abby Stein on Gender Identity and Belonging Inside Brooklyn’s Hasidic Community

Until she was about 20 years old, Abby Stein didn't know the term "transgender", let alone know that other transgender people existed. In this episode, we dive in the life of Abby Stein, a transgender author, activist and former rabbi. Abby takes listeners into her home in a conservative Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. Engaged by the age of 18 to a woman she barely knew, Abby's raw and impassioned account helps us understand the complexity of living as one's authentic self.

In this episode we discuss LGBTQ+ advocacy, human rights abuses and violations based on sexual orientation, and the importance of asking questions and creating spaces to discuss diversity and inclusion.

Host: Hazami Barmada, Founder and CEO, Humanity Lab Foundation.

HAZAMI BARMADA is the Founder & CEO of Humanity Lab Foundation and co-Executive Producer & Host

Finding Humanity Podcast. Hazami is a social entrepreneur, thought leader, and public affairs and social impact expert recognized by Forbes as an “inspirational agent of change.” She has consulted for many leading global brands including the United Nations, United Nations Foundation, Aspen Institute, and the Royal Court of the Sultanate of Oman. Among her posts at the United Nations, she served as the Coordinator for the United Nations Secretary General's World Humanitarian Summit, an Advisor to the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General's Youth Envoy, as a member of the United Nations SDG Strategy Hub for the launch of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Hazami has a Masters from Harvard University where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management. She studied social and public policy at Georgetown University and has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology. Twitter: @hazamibarmada

Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media. 

Subscribe, rate and leave us a review. Follow us on Twitter + Instagram @find_humanity and Facebook.