Seattle‘s LGBT Commission Snubs Gay Leaders from Israel Over ’PinkWashing’
- Posted on March 19, 2012 at 7:56am by
Sharona Schwartz
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Image from Queerty
A delegation of gay pride groups from Israel had an unpleasant surprise when leaders of the gay community in Seattle canceled a meeting and City Hall reception with them at the last minute over Middle East politics.
The Seattle LGBT Commission caved to pressure from pro-Palestinian activists who accuse Israel of “pinkwashing” their country’s treatment of Palestinians. Never heard of pinkwashing? That’s the latest libel affixed to Israel for having the apparent gall to tout the equal rights and freedoms it affords its gay and lesbian citizens.
The Seattle Times reports a small but vocal group spoke out against the Jewish state at a “heated commission meeting” just one day before the planned event:
…members — who represent Seattle’s gay population to city government — bowed to pressure and canceled the session, saying they were not prepared to facilitate an event surrounding “such complex topics.”
The Israeli delegation had other scheduled stops in Seattle that went uninterrupted, but one in Tacoma was also canceled, and one in Olympia was moved because of opposition.
“We wanted to talk about LGBTQ issues,” said Mac McGregor, co-chair of the commission, referring to issues important to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people. He voted to keep the reception. “We weren’t prepared to handle the Palestinian question.
“We are not experts, and we don’t pretend to be. None of us wants to choose sides.”
The Israeli group expressed dismay at the snub:
“We expected from the Seattle LGBTQ Commission a strong declaration of its intent to support all LGBTQ activists, regardless of their color, sex or national origin,” the group said in a statement.
“Sadly, it appears that the commission, representing a minority that continues to face discrimination, also practices that same discrimination.”
Avner Dafne, CEO of Igy, Israel's Youth Pride Organization
Avner Dafne, the CEO of Igy – the Youth Pride Organization (Irgun HaNoar HaGe’e) one of the Israeli gay pride groups set to attend the Friday meeting – told the news site Mako (Hebrew link):
“It’s an unpleasant feeling that a small group succeeds in creating such pressure and people with whom we are supposed to meet actually choose not to take responsibility and don’t stand up to the pressure.”
The cancellation is all the more unusual considering gay Palestinians frequently flee to Tel Aviv from the Palestinian-ruled territories fearing violence. The pro-Israel gay group A Wider Bridge told the Seattle Times:
“The truth is that Israel is a good place to be LGBT, and it is so because there are countless people within Israel doing amazing, courageous work every day … saving lives, including the lives of young LGBTQ Palestinians who often have nowhere else to turn.”
The LGBT news website Queerty provides behind-the-scenes detail on the cancellation:
It looks like the Commission made its decision to pull the plug after Dean Spade, a trans advocate and law professor at Seattle University, encouraged people protest the event, which he sees as a pinkwashing cover-up for Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Dean Spade
Spade posted on Facebook a call to fellow gay activists to consider “speaking your opposition to apartheid and occupation even when its [sic] wrapped in a rainbow flag.”
Queerty is criticizing the Seattle LGBT Commission’s decision to dis-invite the Israeli group:
Are anti-pinkwashers like Spade now saying that all gays from Israel should be silenced in the public arena, lest they accidentally encourage someone to visit their homeland?
Are we calling for the end of civil discourse and kicking Israel’s LGBT off the bus?
It’s a double standard: When Mariela Castro, the heterosexual daughter of Cuba’s president, Raoul Castro, boasts about how progressive her country is on gay issues—despite a proven track record of oppressing LGBTs and political dissidents—she’s embraced with open arms by gay activists.
Gay Pride event in Israel. Note dancer holding beer - prohibited along with homosexuality in some of Israel's neighboring countries. (Photo from Queerty)
The “pinkwashing” slur gained wide attention in November when a pro-Palestinian lesbian activist wrote an op-ed in the New York Times accusing Israel of cynically employing its positive treatment of gays in its public relations efforts. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later declined an invitation from the Times to pen an op-ed, with his senior adviser Ron Dermer writing this dig to the paper’s editorial board: “We wouldn’t want to be seen as ‘Bibiwashing’ the op-ed page of The New York Times.”
American Airlines recently chose Tel Aviv as the “Best Gay City” for vacationers. This while Israel’s Arab neighbors routinely persecute gays, the most recent example being the apparent witch-hunt in Iraq where “emo” and gay teenagers are being methodically targeted and killed by religious radicals in Baghdad. Homosexuality continues to be illegal in many Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, and others.
One commenter on Queerty’s story summed up the argument this way:
So basically Isreal [sic] allows gays to serve in the military, recognizes foreign marriage of gays, allow gays to adopt and raise children AND grants asylum for PAlestinian gays fleeig Palestine.
Palestine on the other hand arrest gays, many are beaten in prison and many have been killed, all with the govt. either being a part of it or ignoring it.
How DARE Mr. Spade try to co-opt the gay rights movement in support of a country that would have us arrested or killed simply for being over there?
(H/T: Seattle Times)
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Comments (46)
c.foster4722
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 1:09pmCongratsulations, Seattle, Tacoma! You have just shown the world what a bunch of cowards you are!! It’s ok for ocupy people to take a crap on the side walk in broad day light,its ok that C.A.I.R. marches in the MLK day parade, it’ ok for Palistine to fire rockets into Israel,it’s ok to kill gays in the Middle East, It’s ok to burn churches, kill christans,kill American troops and wipe Israel off the face of the earth, but itsn’t not ok for a gay rights group from Israel to come here to Washington State and talk gay rights with with other people like them selves!! All because it makes Musslems feel bad! And lets not for get Seattles Mayor and his Social fairness policy for Blacks and Hispanics! You let a two bit nation pressure you nnd you bow down like a dog.I have news for you you Seattle and Tacoma, Those people would just as soon kill you as any one else who is not a Muslem. It‘s quite clear you have no idea what’s going on in the Middle East or any where else in the world! You have just brought shame on Washington St. and it’s people,because you don’t the guts to stand up and say I WILL NOT COMPLY. Remember we are the infadels! I hope your’e proud of the fact that you also showed the entire U.S. and the world the traitors that you are, and that you don’t belive in truth, or freedom,and our constitution. Thank you for selling us out! You just made my day!! COWARDS!!
Report Post »befree2012
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 12:03amStop the hate dude…People have a right to cancel an event for any reason.
Report Post »marion
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:37pmLike everything else, there are good and bad in most every organization. One would hope they would get over themselves and allow other semi-outcasts join their group, being as outnumbered as they are, you would think they would want all the support and members they could get.
Report Post »hogtrashhd
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:27amLGBT is not for what it says it stands for.. it’s another political arm of the left fascists.. the sooner people understand that these groups who are “for” this or that has nothing to do with “this or that”.. it’s about causing chaos and mayhem and they are comprised of a bunch of communist, fascists and others (Soros comes to mind) trying to stir up the masses.. they are not for anything except causing trouble.. they are a minority. my suggestion is to bring them out of their fascist closets and show them for what they really are.. all the protest groups.. all of them…they are NOT what they say they are.
Report Post »nocalifornia
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 11:26amThis whole episode is a reflection of the anti-semite attitude on our collage campuses, big cities, and ultra liberal city governments. The left which preaches tolerance for all which actually means tolerance for all who believe what they believe and walk lock step with them. They might as well start caring signed stating “we want to be stoned for our lifestyles when our tolerant Palestinian muslim brotherhood takes over”.
Report Post »befree2012
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 12:10amI wish people would stop throwing the word anti-Semitic around every time the Jewish people don’t get their way. Stop the hate…people can cancel an event for any reason they want, period! That doesn’t make them anti-Semitic. It reads like they just didn’t want to deal with the controversy…cowards, maybe, but not anti-Semitic.
Report Post »Ecmog
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:39amIsrael is a Jewish state founded on religious principles yet still allows a gay community to flourish. Gay people in the Arab world including Palestinians are forced to be secretive or face drastic consequences. Anti Israel is just another way of saying anti-Semitic. While these hypocrites continue to protest Israel why are thousands being killed in Syria with nary a word of protest.
Anti Zionism or anti Israel = Anti-Semetic
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:17pmMaybe the Seattle gays need to grease them self up with Vaseline,Put on the Thongs, and dance naked in front of Palestinian children in a Gay Pride parade like they do in the US? Bet that would change there show tune!
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:36amThe Seattle LGBTQ Commission does not represent “my people”. This snubbing of an Israeli LGBT mission is disgusting on so many levels, but lest any homophobes out there attempt to twist my words, it is not disgusting on a sexuality level, just political, social, et al.
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 12:04pmRight, but if they don’t stand up for what is right, let alone what is in their own best interest, they are being ‘useful idiots’ for the radical LEFT ans ISLAMISTS who would have them all back hiding in the closet or having their heads removed by the sword.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:24am.
Report Post »Pinkwashing does that have anything to do with Pink Slime?……….
Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:05amI was confused after reading this article thinking I am experiencing the onset of dementia. It just shows that the left are in disarray. It’s amazing that the left are aligning themselves with a religion that would put them at the front of the line when the ******* would start chopping off heads.
Report Post »Tony
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:22amExact same sentiments. Code Pink and LGBT have aligned themselves with the very groups that will have them executed the second it gains power to do so…No more “pink” for the nice ladies, just black from head to toe, sans drivers licenses, and the LGBT….better hide all of the stones….
Report Post »SpeckledPup
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:03ambeing gay in islam is an instant death sentence, so American democrat degenerates siding with palestinian gays in discriminating against Israel, who welcomes all gays, does not make any sense.
Report Post »sdarbro
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:01amMOVIE IDEA:
Two gay males; one from Israel, the other from Palestine. Both meet during a Tel Aviv Pride Rally. emotions ensue, but their backgrounds/cultures make love impossible. It’s the ultimate Romeo and Juliet spin off. The story gets tricky when it turns out the Palestinian comes from a strong Hezbollah faction and the Israeli is related to Richard Simmons. Working title: A LOVE IMPOSSIBLE
Ok, someone take this idea and run with it! Don’t bother informing me about the premier, though. I don’t go for these type of movies, see, but my wife might like it.
Report Post »Lesbian Packing Hollow Points
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:39am“Hark! What light through yonder window breaks? Tis the east, and Julius is… bowing down to it in prayer?”
Report Post »Watchyer6
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:52amSo let me see if I understand correctly- they are protesting the country (Israel) where gays actually have rights, and can live freely, and they’re supporting the people (Palestinians) who arrest, imprison, torture, and kill people for being gay. Are they really that dumb?
Report Post »imsteph
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:00amyep and yep.
Report Post »Tony
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:23amyep and yep too!
Report Post »USPATRIOT101
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:34amthis is why I never understood the gay movement. Is about the right to be gay or is there a greater agenda? It’s kinda like watching Jesse Jackson speak. If you don’t blindly fallow and support his agenda based soley on skin color, you are looked at as subhuman.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:50amUnfortunately, this “IS” the world we live in today. Nothing “IS” what it seems. Words have no meaning or are out right deceptions.
Enter, Babylon. The Bible says that ancient Babylon will be reconstructed. Now, “reconstructed” in the physical sense? or rebuilt in the “meaningful” sense? where people can’t communicate because the common lexicon “IS” destroyed?
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:04amOur culture even adopted a popular Babylonian saying in the 90′s with “It’s all about me”. The English translation from Hebrew is “I am, and there is none besides me”.
The entire chapter of Isaiah is about The Fall of Babylon.
Isaiah 47:10
You have trusted in your wickedness
Report Post »and have said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
hi
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:29amThe are pro-palestinian but palestinians kill gays?
Look what happened to the women protesting with the palestinians…they got groped.
Wake up libs.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:43amThese groups tend to side with any other movement that sides with them.
Report Post »It is so deeply engrained at this point, they are siding with communists, obama, and the like.
Mandors
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:22amJust another far left group tipping its hand. Only thing surprising is how blatant they were.
Report Post »belnumcree
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:14amIf the LGBT community can’t accept the LGBT community, then apparently it doesn’t have anything to do with LGBT rights. Quite puzzling.
Report Post »Mandors
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:20amGreat point. The logical conclusion is that LGBT has an agenda other than or above LGBT rights.
Report Post »c.foster4722
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:10amI get it! It’s ok to kill christians, in the middle east, but you can’t have a meeting here to talk about gay rights, because it will afend Muslems! WHAT A BUNCH OF BS!!
Report Post »ThomasUSA
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:08amEventually the This Communist/Marxist/Socialist/Progressive machine will chew up and spit out all those useful idiots that are no longer useful to achieve their ends of absolute power… Wake up you CMSP idiots.. You are next!
Report Post »TT1488
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:08amThis article is repulsive. All these pride groups everywhere that get attention and support and for the most part are accepted by everyone. But yet if there is a White Pride group that pops up, it has no chance. I thought this was the land of equal rights unless you are a Proud White.
Report Post »disenlightened
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:04amWhy, these delusional LGBT folks are not only confused, but they’re becoming dangerous.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:57am.
Report Post »Pinkwashing, I better not say anything I told Mark the Moderator I’d be a Good Monkey…..
Gonzo
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:32amDid you get slapped around?
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:08am.
Report Post »Just a little……..LOL…….
JustPeachy
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:57amSo let us get this straight (no pun intended, honest! ;-) ).
“Gay pride” and all is fine – unless you happen to be Jewish/Israeli. Then it’s not.
And the gay folks in Washington (where it’s still OK to be free, to be gay if one wishes) support a country that hates and kills gays–over one that protects them.
Uh yeah. Makes perfect sense.
???? :-?
Report Post »justangry
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 9:18amI think (I may be wrong) they drew a distinction between being Jewish and being Isreali. In other words, I don’t think they would have been pursuaded to cop and attitude if they were American Jewish lesbians. But, hey I don’t know. I’m not onboard with the lesbian movement anyway. Seems like a distraction to me. And I’m certainly not one to pick sides on the Israel/Palestinian conflict because I still don’t have a clue. Personally, I wish we were talking about our government implimenting martial law one little piece at a time. But, yeah American lesbians mad at Israeli lesbians over the Palestenians is important. (sarcasm)
Report Post »let us prey
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:56amGay suppression. Lmao. Will they bring the UN in on this? I want to see Uganda weigh in on this.
Report Post »TxSon
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:32amPro Palestinian = pro random murder, pro targeted murder, pro genocical murder ….
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:26amLGBT = anti-Jew. Not surprising. All Neo-Libs are anti-Jew. Ask any Paulbot
Report Post »resme
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 10:59amGo join your holy war, I know you’ve been waiting for genocide. Purge the earth of the brown people right? Can i get a racist news letter for 500$ jeff?
Neocons = anti humanity, Happy? lmfao
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:12amSo, political ideology trumps sexuality… useful idiots.
Report Post »copatriots
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:42amHuh. I wouldn’t have thought anything trumped sexuality with that crowd.
Um, do any of the Jews read the Torah and know their history? I’m kinda thinking God might have a problem with Tel Aviv being the “Best Gay City”.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on March 19, 2012 at 8:59amThey are haters of God, and there is another truth of that truth.
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