NEW YORK — More than 300 people protested outside an OutRight International celebration Monday, criticizing the organization for “silencing and refusing to use” its networks and advocacy to provide immediate relief to Palestinians remaining in the Gaza Strip.
Outside Pier 60 in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, members of ACT UP, the Audre Lorde Project and other groups handed out fliers with messages such as “Israel is bombing gays” and “No pride in genocide” as revelers arrived. More than 100 people held a 241-second “die-in” to “symbolize 241 days of Israeli bombing of Palestine,” according to a press release.
Actor Billy Porter was among those honoured by OutRight International at the gala.
In a press release, protest organizers said Porter “I signed a statement in support of the Zionist state of Israel.” Porter’s statement came after Hamas, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. “Controversial comments made by Paul Reed, who rejects James Baldwin’s anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian stance, while claiming he would be the best person to star and direct a Baldwin biopic.”
ACT UP also reiterated its demands for OutRight International, which advocates for LGBTQ and intersex rights around the world.
• Expanding the struggle for the decolonization of Palestine
• Support local LGBTIQ Palestinian organizations through financial support
• Calling for an end to U.S.-backed human rights violations at the UN
• Identify and divest donors with ties to Israel
Outright International on October 27th be publicly called The group’s executive director, Maria Sjodin, mentioned the protests in her speech at the rally on Monday, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Activism for a better world comes in many forms, and that’s a wonderful thing,” Sjodin said, “and one of those forms is protest, which some of you may have seen on your way in.”
The Washington Blade attended the gala and saw attendees wearing keffiyehs and watermelon patches, which have emerged as symbols of Palestinian solidarity since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7. Greeters cheered when Sjodin said OutRight International “unconditionally supports peaceful protest.”
“We fully support the spirit of the protests, which seek to draw attention to the loss of life,” they said.
According to the Israeli government, Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people, including at least 260 attendees of the Nova music festival, on October 7. The Israeli government said on Tuesday that about 80 hostages taken on October 7 remain alive in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip Health Ministry says more than 35,000 people have been killed in the strip since the war began.
The International Criminal Court announced plans to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh — on May 20. ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said the five committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
“The ICC prosecutor’s application for arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on May 20. “Let me be clear: no matter what the prosecutor says, there is no parity between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to Israel’s security.”
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to impose sanctions on the ICC by a vote of 247 to 155. Forty-two Democrats supported the bill.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York, a vocal supporter of Israel, said on Sunday X Post “Anti-Israel activists destroyed a flag honoring me” on Fire Island, the New York Democrat said, “and in its place put up a flag honoring queer Palestinians.” “I proudly admit to illegally destroying a flag that honors me.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the Philadelphia Pride March on Sunday.
The annual DC Dykemarch, This year, a protest called “Dykes Against Genocide” will be held in Lafayette Park on Friday. A “Stop Genocide” protest is scheduled for Saturday at noon in front of the White House.
The Capital Pride Parade starts three hours later at 14th Avenue NW and T Street. Porter is among those scheduled to perform at the Capital Pride Festival on Pennsylvania Avenue NW on Sunday.
The Muslim League for Sexual Diversity and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights were among the groups that called on the Pride Parade and national LGBTQ rights groups on Tuesday to “immediately ban any companies responsible for inciting genocide in Gaza and colonialist violence globally from sponsoring or participating in Pride events.” The groups also issued a series of demands, including:
- Prohibits weapons manufacturers from participating in or sponsoring Pride events.
- Support the Palestinians and their resistance.
- We condemn pinkwashing and homonationalism and work to dismantle it.
- We call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to arms supplies to Israel.
- We will sever ties with all organizations that profit from war, detention, imprisonment, environmental destruction and forced migration.
- We ban police from marching and attending Pride and condemn state violence.
“For the past eight months, queer and trans people have been at the forefront of the movement for Palestine’s liberation,” Firas Nasr, a Washington, DC-based nonbinary activist and organizer, said in a press release. “Yet Pride organizations and national LGBTQIA+ organizations that claim to represent our community have remained largely silent while defending the corporations behind the massacre.”
Nasir was one of more than 200 people who marched from Dupont Circle to the Human Rights Campaign in February to call on the campaign and other LGBTQ rights groups to “demand an end to the genocide and occupation of Palestine.” The protest was organized by No Pride in Genocide.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
