For people like me who are Jewish and queer

It’s especially hard at this time of the year

When gentiles assume that we all are alike

Like straight folks ignore that you’re really a dyke

When people around you are into a thing

That makes them rejoice, get nostalgic and sing

And all the whole time, it’s a thing that’s not yours

And YOUR thing’s a thing everybody ignores

Or else they just act like both things are the same

And YOUR thing just has a dissimilar name

Like their thing is normal and yours is OK

As long as you do it in their kind of way

Not everyone’s like this, thank god, to be fair

There are allies who get it and treat you with care

They never expect you to cave or conform

And we love them for being a port in the storm

But the ads on TV and the music in stores

And the symbols that reign both inside and outdoors

And the things people say without stopping to think 

All their merriment might send you over the brink

It grates on your nerves, though you try to be nice

As you calmly explain in a way that’s concise

That your thing is quite unrelated to theirs

With meaning and roots that not everyone shares

That your way of being and your way of doing

Can stand on their own as a path worth pursuing

I know that you get it, it doesn’t feel good

To have who you are be so misunderstood

The dominant culture remains unaware

That other folks’ ways have their own special flair

 On this point I’m actually proud of the Pope

Whose words of inclusion have given me hope

Saying LGBT folks, who’ve long been neglected

Should be loved and embraced or at least be respected

Nobody’s better and nobody’s worse

We all are just people, we all are diverse

We can’t assume others are just like ourselves

Not everyone’s thinking of holly and elves

The Jews aren’t Christian and queers are not straight

We are who we are and that’s good, no that’s great

So just be yourself if you’re Jewish or Queer

And if you’re both, bubbeleh, Oy vey iz mir

With double the pressure you’re doubly stressed

To be what is known to our kind as Twice Blessed

I hear ya, I get ya, I know how it is

To have to put up with this dominance biz

But one thing we know is that we can survive

Homophobic assumptions and holiday jive

It helps that our allies are tender and gentle

They don’t try to change us, they aren’t judgmental

They don’t get insulted that we’re not involved

We aren’t a problem that has to be solved

We hang with our peeps and we make our own fun

And we’ll all be relieved when the season is done

Don’t make me explain it, don’t try to convert me

Don’t worry that missing the party will hurt me

I hope what I’ve said isn’t awful or scary

We’ll discuss it more later, like in January

For now let it rest, let me do it my way

And I hope that we all have a very nice day