It’s hard enough just to be Jewish in Argentina, a country where, by law, you must be married and Catholic to run for president.

So imagine what it’s like to grow up Jewish and gay, or Jewish and bisexual. Or Jewish and transgender, for that matter…

“We’re not rejected or expelled, but we’re not fully accepted either,” said German Vaisman, a 30-year-old gay man who founded the nonprofit organization Keshet Argentina last year. Keshet — the Hebrew word for rainbow — has around 120 members and is growing.

“Our mission is to contribute to the development of cultural, political and social initiatives that deal with sexual diversity within Judaism,” Vaisman said. “Our vision is to have a fully inclusive Jewish community of all GLBT Jews.”

That’s shorthand for “gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender,” though 80 percent of Keshet’s members are homosexual men. Most live in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.

The group’s unofficial slogan is “Oy Vey, Soy Gay” — Oy Vey, I’m Gay.

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Do you really need to be be married and Catholic to run for president in Argentina? Wow… I know some people I’d like to ship off right to their could-be happy little Argentinian lives right now in that case. They could take the place of queer Jews who want to move here. Oy vey, a gay exchange!

What else ya got for me? This:

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*I never said Jesus may have been gay
*Gay World Aquatics Championship news
*Honoring Howard Dean
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