By: Petra Chase, Editor-in-Chief
Content warning: mentions of violence against children and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
This summer, Pride parades across the country saw activists protesting the ongoing Palestinian genocide. People have called these protests selfish, saying Pride is “not the place” for them. The participation of corporations and politicians who are complicit in Israel’s genocide is what really deserves outrage. Power-hungry entities like Scotiabank and TD Bank use empty slogans and rainbows to pretend they care about equality and liberation, while they blatantly support Israel’s brutality. Pride’s roots lie in resisting systems of oppression across borders and intersecting identities. Palestinian liberation has always been a queer issue.
Certain outlets have responded to the recent protests by calling Queers for Palestine “incoherent” and “ironic.” They believe Pride and Palestinian liberation are contradictory because of the existence of anti-2SLGBTQIA+ sentiments in occupied Palestinian territories. The go-to talking point used to dismiss queer people who advocate for Palestinian liberation is to tell them to try surviving in Gaza as a queer person. “They’d be killed!” one online magazine parrots. I don’t deny that homosexuality is criminalized in Gaza and queerphobia exists in Palestinian society. However, this response shows a stark double standard.
I can’t believe this has to be said: the persecution of queer people doesn’t justify a genocide. Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, and killed over 40,000 people. If there is a genuine concern for the lives of queer Palestinians, you would think stopping Israel from killing and displacing them should be a priority. Despite Israel presenting itself as a beacon of hope for queer Palestinians, same-sex marriage is illegal in Israel.
Even if Israel is safer for queer Israelis, queer Palestinians have a much different experience there. They are not only discriminated against on the basis of their sexuality and gender, but also denied basic freedom in their homeland under Israeli apartheid. According to Vice, intelligence sharing between the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, racism towards Arabs, and a lack of basic legal rights means few queer Palestinians seek asylum in Israel. Because Israel may share their information with Palestinian agencies, it also means there is a risk of queer Palestinians “being outed in their own community.”
Pride’s roots lie in resisting systems of oppression
Homophobia and transphobia are not distinct to Palestine. When people say you’d “get shot” in Palestine, it hinges on a racist and Islamophobic depiction of Palestinians as inherently violent. Hate-motivated gun violence is a real issue for 2SLGBTQIA+ communities around the world, especially in the US, where gun ownership is legal. Trans people continue to have their rights stripped away in North America. Your right to live safely shouldn’t depend on the predominant beliefs where you live. It’s because of deeply-ingrained racism that violence against Arabs and Muslims is normalized.
Disguising colonial violence as social progress is nothing new. It’s also thanks to colonialism that homosexuality is criminalized to begin with, as “the law was inherited from the British” in 1936 due to the British Mandate Criminal Code Ordinance. The west has historically used depictions of colonized people as uncivilized to fuel a narrative of western aid, and Israel is no different. Last year, two months into Israel’s escalated genocide, a photo of an Israeli soldier holding a rainbow flag in Gaza circulated online, which was shared as if it were a win for the queer community. Just like we’re seeing at our corporate-co-opted Pride parades, this is textbook pinkwashing: using queer identities for public relations purposes. Promoting a supposed queer-friendly image to excuse killing and traumatizing a population, including children, is foul and goes against everything queer liberation stands for.
The inclusion of Palestinian solidarity at Pride isn’t new; in 2010 the Toronto-based grassroots organization Queers Against Israeli Apartheid made its first appearance at Pride. Organizations like Rainbow Refugee, who help people fleeing discrimination based on their gender identity or sexual orientation, demonstrate the importance of transnational solidarity, and communities sticking up for each other.
While we can celebrate how Pride parades demonstrate more public acceptance towards queer identities, we still have a long way to go before queer people are liberated. This is all the more reason to stand in solidarity with queer Palestinians. They should have the right to live safely in their own homes, and feel welcome at our Pride parades. As Palestinian author Elias Jahshan noted, “in terms of real liberation, we cannot achieve that until we have a free Palestine.”
