Pinkwashing (LGBT)
Pinkwashing is a term coined to describe the action of using gay-related issues in positive ways in order to distract attention from negative actions by an organization, country or government. It has also been defined as "the deployment of superficially sympathetic messages for [ends] having little or nothing to do with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) equality or inclusion". In the context of LGBT rights, it is used to describe a variety of marketing and political strategies aimed at promoting products, countries, people, or entities through an appeal to gay-friendliness, in order to be  perceived as progressive, modern, and tolerant. Immigration. In 2013, the Human Rights Campaign officially endorsed comprehensive immigration reform, and committed to helping immigrants as they seek health and safety, asylum, or citizenship. The endorsement came days after an incident where a gay immigrant activist was prevented by HRC from discussing his legal status at a Supreme Court rally, mistreatment for which HRC later issued an apology. "The Huffington Post" described the HRC's actions as pinkwashing, "making immigration reform look pro-gay to garner LGBT support in order to mask the severe drawbacks of the legislation"—drawbacks such as funding to  support enforcement, deportation, and further US militarization. In 2012, Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, was accused of pinkwashing, after an email titled "LGBT Refugees from Iran" was sent to thousands of Canadians. The message contained additional recent comments by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, about Canada's stand against the persecution and marginalization of gays and lesbian women around the world. A group of activists claimed that it "is a poor attempt at 'pinkwashing' the Conservative government's obvious desire to encourage war with Iran". Homonationalism. Homonationalism is a term coined by Jasbir Puar in  her book "Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times" published in 2007 to refer to the processes by which some powers selectively agree with the claims of sexual minorities and exploit them to justify racism, xenophobia (rejection of foreign people), and aporophobia (rejection of the poor). In short, this is the intersection between gay identities and nationalist ideology. Homonationalism shaped the concept of pinkwashing and the two terms are often used together as tools to explain the actions of countries. Puar writes in a later article, "Rethinking Homonationalism", that the two terms are not parallel but rather pinkwashing is able to  exist because homonationalism exists. United States. According to Omar G. Encarnación, a professor of Political Studies at Bard College, the Obama administration was accused by some critics of pinkwashing "to distract from other unsavory policies such as the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants and the failure to prosecute those responsible for the human rights abuses of the Bush administration's War on Terror". Pinkwashing in the United States, according to author Stephan Dahl from the University of Hull, is centered around pride merchandise created and sold by companies that do nothing for queer people. This feeds a "big business  small community" relationship and seems beneficial when in reality there is nothing changing legally for queer people through this practice. Some scholars also raise the issue of pinkwashing as it relates to settler colonialism in the United States and ongoing sovereignty issues for indigenous peoples. Israeli government public relations. Sarah Schulman, a writer and professor at the City University of New York, claims Israeli government public relations campaign exploits Israel's LGBT-friendliness to promote perceptions of Israel as a modern democracy, a secure place for investment, and a sunny tourist destination. The Israeli marketing claims that LGBT people have  more freedom in Israel than in most places, and paints the state as an ideal place for queer couples to vacation without fear of oppression. The campaign has specifically targeted gay men between the ages of 18 to 34. Schulman argues Israel does not have laws that benefit LGBT people more than in other countries, and some politicians in Israel are homophobic, like in any other country. She takes issue with the promotion of LGBT rights, as it may lead to people assuming that Israel is liberal when it may violate other human rights, and that Israel's alleged pinkwashing  negatively affects LGBT people, as well as Palestinians, by suppressing demands for political change. In August 2011, "The Jerusalem Post" reported the Foreign Ministry was promoting Gay Israel as part of its campaigns to counter the negative stereotypes that many liberal Americans and Europeans have of Israel. Opponents of Israel like Jasbir Puar, an associate professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers University, cite the Israeli government's comparison of LGBT rights in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territories as an example of pinkwashing. Citing WorldPride, which Jerusalem hosted in 2006, she writes: "Within global gay and  lesbian organising circuits, to be gay friendly is to be modern, cosmopolitan, developed, first-world, global north, and, most significantly, democratic." Joseph Massad, associate professor of modern Arab politics and intellectual history at Columbia University, has written that the Israeli government "insist[s] on advertising and exaggerating its recent record on LGBT rights ... to fend off international condemnation of its violations of the rights of the Palestinian people". Israeli response. According to some in Israel, pinkwashing allegations against Israel constitute a straw man argument. To them, the fact that Israel is generally tolerant towards LGBT individuals and groups on both state  and individual levels is a factual contrast to the discriminatory and often-brutal treatment given to LGBT people by Arab and Muslim groups. Ido Aharoni, former head of the Brand Israel project, responded to such criticism, saying: "We are not trying to hide the conflict, but broaden the conversation. We want to create a sense of relevance with other communities." Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard University law professor, has said that the term "pinkwashing" is used against Israel by "some radical gay activists" who are anti-Semitic "bigots". He called the use of the term "pinkwashing" in this context as "nothing  more than anti-Semitism with a pink face". Yair Qedar, a gay Israeli filmmaker and civil rights activist, has said that Israel has a praiseworthy LGBT+ rights record, and that failing to defend it "ultimately serves homophobia far more than dialogue and peace". He criticized Israeli LGBT+ groups for failing to oppose pinkwashing charges. Shaul Ganon of the Israeli-based LGBT+ rights group Aguda, assessed the dispute this way: "Each side is trying to gain some points. The truth is the only one who gets screwed by this is the Palestinian gays." Anti-pinkwashing. Anti-pinkwashing refers to the response  that LGBT organizations have had to alleged pinkwashing. Lynn Darwich and Hannen Maikay, in their article "The Road from Antipinkwashing Activism to the Decolonization of Palestine", allege that accusations of pinkwashing against Israel have led to an intersection of queer rights movements and Palestinian rights movements in Palestine and other countries, despite ongoing discrimination and abuse of LGBT individuals within Palestinian controlled territories. This is a strategy that has allowed the two activist groups to fight for one cause; however, it also places limits on both movements. Darwich and Maikay suggest that the anti-pinkwashing movement has to consider not  only pinkwashing but also homonationalism, colonialism, and imperialism. France's far right. In 2017, AP News Paris made pinkwashing allegations against Marine Le Pen, president of the French far-right political party National Front. She was gaining support from LGBT communities in the presidential election, despite the fact that Jean-Marie Le Pen, her father and the founder of the party, once condemned homosexuality as "a biological and social anomaly". France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, which made the country the thirteenth worldwide to officially sanction couples in a gender-insensitive manner. However, LGBT communities were confronted with anti -gay movements such as a 2016 march by 24,000 people on the streets of Paris demanding that the law be repealed and also criminal incidents involving gay victims such as the Orlando nightclub shooting, after which Marine Le Pen declared "how much homosexuality is attacked in countries that live under the Islamist jackboot". Facing these threats and receiving "sympathy" from Le Pen, some LGBT voters started to advocate for the far-right party, with one supporter stating that "they'll be the first victims of these barbarians, and only Marine is proposing radical solutions". Corporate marketing. A campaign to develop  public support for the Keystone Pipeline, which would transport Canadian oil through the United States, has been accused of pinkwashing for its argument that the project deserves support based on a comparison of Canada's record on LGBT rights compared to that of other oil-producing nations. The campaign base at OpecHatesgays.com headlines its presentation: "Compare Canadian Ethical Oil to OPEC conflict oil". In 2014, BP launched "LGBT Careers Event", a move that was met with criticism as an attempt to pinkwash the conduct that led to Deepwater Horizon oil spill, described as "the worst environmental disaster America has ever  faced". In Australia, concern has been raised about the commodification of gay rights by major corporations. Anti-Muslim rhetoric. A coalition organized by several popular grassroots movements in Europe, including the English Defence League (EDL), mounted counter-jihad demonstrations in conjunction with LGBT Pride Week celebrations in Helsinki and Stockholm in July and August 2012. However, these movements inspired a counter demonstration by an LGBT rights group called "Queers against Pinkwashing", which claimed that the counter-jihad march against Muslims was a clear example of pinkwashing and projected a fake support image for sexual minorities. In an interview for Radio  Sweden, Lisa Bjurwald, a Swedesh journalist and expert on European right-wing ideology, criticized the EDL for allying with the wrong people, as "Queers against Pinkwashing" are in fact against singling out one factor as if it were the source of all the relevant problems because such attempts do not benefit the LGBTQ community. Feminist commentator Laurie Penny has warned of European far-right attempts to weaponise the issue of sexual assault against refugees and migrants. Intersex movement. In June 2016, Organisation Intersex International Australia pointed to contradictory statements by Australian governments suggesting that the dignity and rights of LGBT  and intersex people are recognized while, at the same time, harmful practices on intersex children continue. In August 2016, Zwischengeschlecht described actions to promote equality or civil status legislation without action on banning "intersex genital mutilations" as a form of pinkwashing. The organization has previously highlighted evasive government statements to UN Treaty Bodies that conflate intersex, transgender and LGBT issues, instead of addressing harmful practices on infants. Country comparisons. Stephan Lefebvre of the Center for Economic and Policy Research has noted how the Obama administration, followed by the mainstream US media, has criticized Russia for its failure to provide basic  civil liberties for its LGBT population. He contrasts that with the US government's failure to condemn the comparable record on LGBT issues on the part of US allies like Honduras, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the US government's failure to acknowledge progress on LGBT rights in Cuba. In his analysis, this constitutes pinkwashing, which he defines as "deliberately highlighting support for gay rights while ignoring or downplaying other relevant human rights issues". Laurie Penny, an author and feminist activist, contrasted those who criticized Russia's LGBT policies during the Sochi Olympics with their  silence on instances of homophobic treatment at their own countries' border crossings. She wrote: