XPost: alt.politics.homosexuality, alt.gaza, talk.politics.guns
XPost: sac.politics

A US organization challenges Queers for Palestine by offering funding for
a Pride parade in Gaza, sparking debate over LGBTQ rights and activism

“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming, ‘Gays for Gaza.’”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked during his July address to the
US Congress. “They might as well hold up signs saying, ‘Chickens for
KFC,’” he added, referring to groups such as Queers for Palestine. A US organization is now challenging Queers for Palestine by offering to fund
an LGBTQ Pride parade in Gaza.

The offer is pretty clear: $1 million to underwrite expenses for Queers
for Palestine or any organization that can host a gay pride parade in Gaza
or the West Bank

“The offer is pretty clear: $1 million to underwrite expenses for Queers
for Palestine or any organization that can host a gay pride parade in Gaza
or the West Bank. Floats, banners, glitter —gay pride parades can be expensive,” Gregory T. Angelo, president of the New Tolerance Campaign
(NTC), told The Media Line. “I’d be happy to review a budget when Queers
for Palestine takes us up on our offer.”

Angelo previously served as a White House press secretary under the Trump Administration and was president of the Log Cabin Republicans, the
nation’s largest Republican organization advocating for LGBT conservatives
and allies. The group says it “works within the Republican Party to
advocate equal rights for LGBT people in the United States.”

Some critics have labeled the New Tolerance Campaign’s proposal as a “pinkwashing” stunt.

Initially used to describe the commercialization of the breast cancer pink ribbon, “pinkwashing” was adopted by the boycott, divestment, and
sanctions (BDS) movement in the early 2000s. American writer and BDS
activist Sara Schulman popularized the term in her 2011 New York Times
opinion piece, “Israel and Pinkwashing.”

The Palestinian BDS National Committee also addresses this, stating: “Pinkwashing is an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

Pinkwashing is the symptom, settler-colonialism is the root sickness

“Pinkwashing is the symptom, settler-colonialism is the root sickness. Recognizing pinkwashing as colonial violence can help us understand how
Israel divides, oppresses, and erases Palestinians on the basis of gender
and sexuality,” according to a 2020 paper by the Jerusalem-based LGBT organization alQaws.

Equaldex, a US-based organization, compiles data on LGBTQ rights. Its
Equality Index factors in legal protections for LGBTQ individuals and
public opinion reflecting societal attitudes toward LGBTQ people, with
scores ranging from 0 to 100, where 100 is the highest.

Israel scores 59 on Equaldex’s Equality Index, with 71 for legal rights
and 47 for public opinion. Palestine, by contrast, scores 22 overall, with
39 for legal rights and just 6 for public opinion.

In comparison, the US scores 71 overall, with 86 for legal rights and 56
for public opinion.

https://themedialine.org/people/us-group-offers-1-million-for-gaza-lgbtq- pride-parade/

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