{"id":66767,"date":"2022-04-04T11:45:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-04T16:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=66767"},"modified":"2022-04-04T11:45:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-04T16:45:08","slug":"ex-hasidic-trans-activist-abby-stein-photographed-by-annie-leibovitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/ex-hasidic-trans-activist-abby-stein-photographed-by-annie-leibovitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Hasidic trans activist Abby Stein photographed by Annie Leibovitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JACKIE HAJDENBERG<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2014 Abby Stein remembers two things well about her first-ever editorial photo shoot after coming out as an ex-Orthodox trans woman.<br \/>\nThe first was that the shoot, in her bedroom for Vogue magazine in 2018, was the first time Stein had posed in a bra, and she wasn\u2019t totally comfortable with the experience.<\/p>\n<p>The second was that someone asked her who her dream photographer would be.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_66769\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-scaled.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66769\" class=\"wp-image-66769 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66769\" class=\"wp-image-66769 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Abby-Chava-Stein-by-Annie-Lebovitz-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-66769\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Abby Chava Stein, an American transgender author, activist, blogger, model, speaker and rabbi, relaxes on the Resort Deck of Celebrity Apex. Abby is the first openly transgender woman raised in an Hasidic community. (Photograph by Annie Leibovitz)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The name that popped into her mind was \u201cone that I knew was never going to happen,\u201d she recalled last week \u2014 Annie Leibovitz.<br \/>\n\u201cShe\u2019s definitely done a lot of work to elevate LGBTQ voices and portraits,\u201d Stein told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency last week about why she was drawn to Leibovitz, the award-winning portraitist. \u201cAnd she is obviously Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Four years later, that dream has come true: Leibovitz has photographed Stein in a setting that couldn\u2019t be more different from her New York City apartment \u2014 on the deck of a cruise liner.<\/p>\n<p>Stein, an activist for LGBTQ+ inclusion in Jewish communities and beyond, is one of dozens of subjects of photographs in a new library created by Celebrity Cruises to showcase the diversity&nbsp;of people who love to travel. The images \u2014&nbsp;which also include #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke, disability activist and model Jillian Mercado, and the Jewish director with alopecia Rachel Fleit, among others \u2014&nbsp;will be made available for anyone to use, in an effort to change the public face of the cruise industry.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat Annie, indeed all of the artists involved in this project have captured so beautifully, is that for vacations to really live up to the marketing moniker \u2018all-inclusive,\u2019 then they should start by using images that are inclusive of all, not just a few,\u201d Celebrity Cruises President and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am keenly aware of the privilege to be asked to participate,\u201d Stein wrote on Twitter. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is about me \u2014 this is about representation in the LGBTQ, and especially trans, community. It\u2019s about bodies that are different than the mainstream \u2018cis-straight-normative\u2019 expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stein was careful to note that though she did post about her experience on social media, promoting the company was not part of her contract for the photoshoot. But she said knowing that the CEO of Celebrity was the first woman to lead a Royal Caribbean Group cruise line brand and that the company was the first to have a woman captain a \u201cmega\u201d cruise ship gave her confidence that the company\u2019s inclusion efforts were genuine.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_66770\" style=\"width: 234px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66770\" class=\"wp-image-66770 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-765x1024.jpg 765w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-768x1028.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp.jpg 1076w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 224px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 224\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-66770\" class=\"wp-image-66770 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-224x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-765x1024.jpg 765w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp-768x1028.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Screenshot_20220401-161951_WhatsApp.jpg 1076w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-66770\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Behind the scenes of the Annie Leibovitz shoot, Abby Stein poses with her cousin. (Courtesy of Abby Stein)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhile I don\u2019t understand corporate intentions, the people I worked with from Celebrity were all really, really amazing and they really mean it,\u201d she said. \u201cI think they\u2019ve done a lot of amazing stuff towards being more inclusive and I\u2019m a big fan of inclusivity. Specifically, actual actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Working with Leibovitz gave Stein \u201ca lot of courage,\u201d Stein said. She added, \u201cIt was legitimately such a diverse crowd. People with different abilities, people with different looks, different ages, different body types and everything. So it was a very, I would say empowering moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the shoot, Stein got to pick from a few 1950s-style options, ultimately choosing a white one-piece with black polka dots and posing on a chaise on the deck of a Celebrity Cruise liner where she and other models spent a full week.<\/p>\n<p>Stein\u2019s Jewish identity became a recurring theme through her seven nights on the cruise. Leibovitz \u2014 who vaulted to her first staff job, at Rolling Stone, on the strength of photographs she took in Israel in the 1970s \u2014 revered Stein\u2019s background as a rabbi, Stein recalled.<\/p>\n<p>And when word circulated that Stein celebrates Shabbat every week, Celebrity CMO Michael Scheiner, who is also Jewish, asked if she would like to lead Friday night services on the boat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat wasn\u2019t part of any contract or any deal,\u201d Stein said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t paid for that or anything. But literally within a day they added it to the cruise schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of cruise guests attended. Stein led the service and gave a short sermon. Manischewitz grape juice and fresh-baked challah were served.<br \/>\n\u201cIt was really nice and sweet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CX4onneLBZV\/<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Ex-Hasidic%20trans%20activist%20Abby%20Stein%20photographed%20by%20Annie%20Leibovitz\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":66769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,4153],"tags":[12180,8790,8795,8788,898],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66767"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66771,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66767\/revisions\/66771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}