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From: R. Nachmani
Subject: Gender
Date: 10 Av 5783
Rav Halevi's objection is fair. Let me extend the model.
The mechitza is a spectrum, not a binary. One can sit firmly in the men's section (M+++), at the edge near the partition (M+), occasionally cross to the other side (M-), or never identify with it at all (M---).
What I am proposing is not "are you male or female" but "how do you navigate gendered Jewish space?"
A trans woman in an Orthodox community might write M--- — she does not belong in the men's section, even if that is where halakha places her. A person who is non-binary might write M~ — approximate, uncertain, context-dependent.
This is not about what gender someone is. It is about practice. Where do you sit? Where do you daven? How do you move through spaces that are divided?
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