# Queer advocacy in the Gaza war

This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Queer advocacy during the Gaza war has remained a significantly contentious topic. Many queer people allied themselves with pro-Palestinian causes, especially in protest movements against the ongoing war, against the alleged Gaza genocide. Some pro-Palestinian queers have claimed common cause between Queer liberation and Palestinian liberation, though others have called such movements antisemitic and self-contradictory. Some pro-Israeli queers have complained about feeling excluded from traditionally queer spaces due to pro-Palestinian queer advocacy.

## Background

In past decades, many prominent LGBTQ figures have expressed solidarity with or sympathy for the Palestinian cause, such as Jean Genet, June Jordan, Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Judith Butler, bell hooks and Leslie Feinberg. In 2000, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT), an explicitly queer Palestinian solidarity group, was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area, with protests from the 2000s onward related to the Israel-Palestine conflict from the LGBT community being motivated by the phenomenon of pinkwashing.

## Pro-Palestinian queer advocacy

Queer pro-Palestinian activists have stated that Israeli usage of the Pride flag and advocacy of queer rights is pinkwashing, especially when attempting to bolster Israel's image globally. Pro-Israeli voices argue that queer and trans Palestinians face significant repression in the Palestinian territories, while Israel has significant protections for queer people. In response, Pro-Palestinian voices also point out hypocrisy of arguing that Palestinian views on homosexuality are generally repressive when far-right Israeli ministers push homophobic discourse. Pro-Palestinian voices have also pointed out hypocrisy of celebrating equal rights for queer people when Palestinians "don't have equal rights as humans" and when queer Palestinians face significant violence from the war and from Israel exploiting their sexuality.
Queer Palestinians who attempt to seek asylum in Israel continue to face significant racism, and may be barred from the healthcare system and from residence permits. One queer Palestinian professor, Sa'ed Atshan, argues that it is "very dangerous to pathologize Palestinian society as uniquely homophobic" and "uniquely bigoted on collective level", suggesting that it dehumanizes and stigmatizes Palestinians. Queer Palestinian activist groups have remained active since the start of the war, with Rauda Morcos noting that queer Palestinians face human rights violations from Israeli authorities in the same way as other Palestinians. Many queer pro-Palestinians have protested due to sympathy with the humanitarian crisis as a result of the war, claiming shared goals between Queer liberation and Palestinian liberation.

### Queers for Palestine

Many queer groups have come out for advocacy with Palestine against Israel, with three queer journalists resigning from the New York Times in November 2023 over the paper's coverage, and many queer entertainers publicly announcing support for Palestine. One anonymous social media group, Queers for Palestine, has formed to track which queer advocacy groups have signed a "No Pride in Genocide" statement. Many pro-Israeli writers have dismissed the increase in advocacy, arguing that being queer for Palestine is similar to "chickens for KFC", as Palestinian society remains conservative against queer rights. As a result of increased pro-Palestinian activism, Israeli comedy sketch shows, such as Eretz Nehederet, began airing comedy bits lampooning the supposed hypocrisy, suggesting Hamas fighters would throw student protesters off of buildings. Such rhetoric has been criticised as in of itself indicative and reflective of anti-LGBTQ sentiment and stereotypes.

### Response from queer Jews

Many queer Jews, both Zionist and non-Zionist, have sought support from queer Jewish advocacy groups during the conflict. Both groups have described fallouts with various communities due to their intersecting beliefs. One opinion writer at The Jerusalem Post wrote that Queers for Palestine had caused significant pain and betrayal for many queer Jews and Israelis. They also condemned some of the queer Jews who supported Queers for Palestine due to accepting "the false leftist binary of ... the oppressed and oppressor". Amichai Lau-Lavie, a queer rabbi, argued that despite his opposition against occupation of the West Bank, he felt that framing of the issue by many queers was reductive, which had pushed him away from participating in some queer spaces. Elliot Kukla, another queer Jewish writer, has argued that Jewish and queer backgrounds of suffering is the context for pro-Palestinian activism by many queer Jews during the war.

### Other groups

The organization ACT UP NY has helped organized significant advocacy and protests for Palestine and to call for a ceasefire in the war. The chapter has also endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. One group, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, has organized multiple protests as a result of the war, including "to pressure the local LGBTQIA+ film festival to stop taking money from the Israeli consulate, and performed street theater to support Boycott Divestment and Sanctions." Pro-Palestinian queers have also been calling for other queer advocacy groups to also endorse ceasefires, such as GLAAD and Human Rights Campaign.
In October 2024, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) suspended the membership of The Aguda, an Israeli LGBTQ advocacy organization. Additionally, ILGA decided to remove The Aguda's bid to hold a future ILGA conference in Tel Aviv, stating that The Aguda was violating the ILGA constitution. The decision came after more than 70 member organizations of ILGA submitted an emergency motion opposing the bid on the grounds that it endorsed the Israeli government. The Aguda condemned the decision, highlighting their advocacy work and stating that ILGA should not oppose Israeli government policy by "shunning and excommunicating" Israel's queer community. Pro-Israel organization A Wider Bridge called the decision "outrageous and unacceptable".

## Pro-Israeli queer advocacy

As a result of the ongoing Gaza war hostage crisis, Tel Aviv cancelled its 2024 Pride Parade celebration. The Israeli Consulate in New York announced that it would reduce its presence at the 2024 Pride Parade, due to both safety concerns and the solemn mood in Israel with the ongoing war. Spokesperson Itay Milner said that "our commitment to the cause of equality for all remains foremost and unchanged.” Many pro-Israeli queers have felt unease in some queer spaces as a result of queer pro-Palestinian advocacy.
In June 2024, members from the organizations Cincinnati Socialists and DivestCinciPride were asked to leave a North Kentucky pride event because they handed out flyers alleging that Israel was conducting a "Final Solution" against Palestinians in its war with Hamas. Several days later, Cincinnati Socialists made an Instagram post "naming and shaming" two Jewish Cincinnati Pride board members for supporting Israel. Afterwards, Cincinnati Pride released a statement that two Jewish board members had been threatened with violence and were resigning for safety reasons. The local Jewish Federation condemned the Cincinnati Socialists as antisemitic and organized a separate pride parade. That September, the two former board members discussed the incident with Haaretz, saying that they had received death threats and had been forced to resign.
In an op-ed, David Kilmnick, president of the queer advocacy group LGBT Network in New York, called on the LGBT community to support Jews and Israel. He criticized the LGBT community's lack of condemnation for the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and rejected the accusation that Israel "uses its LGBT-friendly image as a tool to divert attention from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict". Gay New York Congressman Ritchie Torres, a vocal supporter of Israel, told NBC News “The anti-Israel wing of the LGBTQ community is essentially telling pro-Israel Jews that if you wish to be a part of the LGBTQ community, then you have to be in the closet about your Zionism, you have to be ashamed of your Zionism. That to me is not Pride. That's a perversion of Pride.”

## Protests

During various Pride parades in 2024, while the war was ongoing, some groups organized counter-marches for Palestine. Many Dyke marches became explicit call outs against ongoing conflicts, such as "in Palestine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine." During Philadelphia's Pride Parade, queer counter protesters disrupted the march, with one video showing a Philly Pride Parade marcher arguing with the counter-protesters. At one point, the pro-Palestinian protesters faced off against the drumline. Protesters were noted to be chanting various slogans such as "No pride in genocide".
Queer pro-Palestinian activists called for a boycott of San Francisco Pride in 2024 due to the presence of corporate sponsors, police, and appointing Billy Porter, who had made pro-Israeli statements, as a grand marshal. Other pro-Palestinian groups also called for boycotts. SF Pride's executive directors' called the boycotts the results of misinformation. An alternative "No pride in genocide" march was held by queers to protest San Francisco Pride, with more than a thousand participants. SF Pride received criticism from pro-Israeli groups when they posted a statement suggesting an Israeli float would be barred from participating in the march. They later clarified that there had been no Israeli float registered by the deadline, and that they "practice radical inclusion as a core value."
In Boston, over 100 protestors blocked the Boston Pride parade. Two protestors were detained by Boston police. Over 60 pro-Palestinian organizations called for Boston Pride to divest from companies they said had ties to Israel. Pro-Palestinian activists affiliated with Writers Against the War on Gaza temporarily blocked the NYC Pride March in 2024 when several protesters breached the barricade and painted the streets red. Activists led a "call and response" chant with the parade audience, until NYPD arrested 10 of the activists. The parade also had pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian marchers. Two of the Pride March's grand marshalls claimed that Israel had been committing a genocide during the war. Three members of Queers for Palestine were arrested on May 11 on a road to Disneyland after barricading traffic.
The Glasgow Greens and Rainbow Greens of the Scottish Greens marched in a "No Pride in Genocide: Radical Bloc" instead of the parade's "Green Bloc".
In Washington DC, queer Israeli-American actor and activist Yuval David posted a video of Capital Pride participants booing him and other pro-Israel marchers.
On June 27, 2024, the NYC Dyke March issued a statement supporting the safety of Jewish participants at the march and condemning the 7 October attacks. Within thirty minutes, this statement was deleted and replaced by another that referred to the first as a "mistake" that did "not reflect the official stance of the Dyke March", adding that the organization "unapologetically stands in support of Palestinian liberation". The march also raised money for the hardline anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime. In opposition, a group of Jewish lesbians held a separate event at the same time as the march.