Image by Facebook

Thirteen-year old Tom Sosnik, one of the youngest people on this year’s Forward 50 list, made headlines in March when a video of him coming out to his class as transgender went viral.

Sosnik decided to make his brave speech after reading about Leelah Alcorn, a transgender teen who died by suicide in 2014 after her family and friends refused to accept her.

“Her story made me realize how lucky I was that I could be accepted by my family and my extended family in Israel,” Sosnik told the Forward.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In his coming out speech to his classmates at Tehiyah Day School, a pluralistic Jewish day school in El Cerrito, California, he said: “I am no longer Mia, I never really was and now I stand before you as my true gender identity, as Tom. I stand before you as a 13-year-old boy.”

After the moving speech, the school’s rabbi led a special naming ceremony for Tom, which she described as “a cross between a bar mitzvah and a brit.”

Sosnik first came out as transgender to his family in July 2014, after a long battle with his identity. “For a while I dismissed the fact that I hated my body… until at a certain point I broke,” he said in the coming out speech.

During what has been a tumultuous and important year for transgender rights, Sosnik shared with the world a very Jewish and very personal coming out story, one that could perhaps serve as a model for the Jewish community at large.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount