#Pinkwashing

[greencarnation]

[artemis-pendragon]

Queering the Map in Gaza and the West Bank

[sayruq]

[personalrprants]

[odinsblog]

GO GAY EUGENE!! 🌈

[jupitisms]

We mourn the dead and we fight like hell for the living.

[palipunk]

Something homonationalist white queers talking about lgbt Palestinians that has always annoyed me is that they talk about homophobic Palestinians as if they’re the ones experiencing homophobia from them. You are not living under the PA, you are not living under Hamas, you are not Palestinian, no Palestinian gov or community has authority over you - so what gives you the right to decide homophobic Palestinians deserve to be slaughtered by the state of Israel? Don’t play this white savior card, you don’t care about lgbt Palestinians, you’re a racist covered in glitter. We lgbt Palestinians see you as an extension of our oppressors, not saviors.

[queen-mabs-revenge]

[kropotkindersurprise]

It's specifically not "Be Gay, Do War Crimes". [link]

[destroying-iof-prostates-4-hamas]

Daily reminder that corporations will wear any flag so long as it brings them money

[mmi-mii]

queer arab muslim here, i do not give a fuck if palestine doesn't support queer rights

[homochadensistm]

Fuck off, genocidal pinkwasher.

[hussyknee]

Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani records the lives of a number of individuals including one named Tuways who lived during the last years of Muhammad and the reigns of the early Muslim dynasties. Tuways was mukhannathun: those who were born as men, but who presented as female. They are described by al-Isfahani as wearing bangles, decorating their hands with henna, and wearing feminine clothing. One mukhannathun, Hit, was even in the household of the Prophet Muhammad. Tuways earned a reputation as a musician, performing for clients and even for Muslim rulers. When Yahya ibn al-Hakam was appointed as governor, Tuways joined in the celebration wearing ostentatious garb and cosmetics. When asked by the governor if he were Muslim Tuways affirmed his belief, proclaiming the declaration of faith and saying that he observes the fast of Ramadan and the five daily prayers. In other words, al-Isfahani, who recorded the life of a number of mukhannathun like Tuways, saw no contradiction between his gender expression and his Muslimness. From al-Isfahani we read of al-Dalal, ibn Surayj, and al-Gharid—all mukhannathun—who lived rich lives in early Muslim societies. Notably absent from al-Isfahani’s records is any state-sanctioned persecution. Instead, the mukhannathun are an accepted part of society.

...

Far from isolated cases, across Islamic history—from North Africa to South Asia—we see widespread acceptance of gender nonconforming and queer individuals. - Later in the Ottoman Empire, there were the köçek who were men who wore women’s clothing and performed at festivals. Formally trained in dance and percussion instruments, the köçek were an important part of social functions. A similar practice was found in Egypt. The khawal were male dancers who presented as female, wearing dresses, make up, and henna. Like their Ottoman counterparts, they performed at social events.

- In South Asia, the hijra were and are third-sex individuals. The term is used for intersex people as well as transgender women. Hijra are attested to among the earliest Muslim societies of South Asia where, according to Nalini Iyer, they were often guardians of the household and even held office as advisors.

- In Iraq, the mustarjil are born female, but present as men. In Wilfred Thesiger’s The Marsh Arabs the guide, Amara explains, “A mustarjil is born a woman. She cannot help that; but she has the heart of a man, so she lives like a man.” When asked if the mustarjil are accepted, Amara replies “Certainly. We eat with her and she may sit in the mudhif.” Amara goes on to describe how mustarjil have sex with women.

...

Historian Indira Gesink analyzed 41 medical and juristic sources between the 8th and 18th centuries and discovered that the discourse of a “binary sex” was an anachronistic projection backwards. Gesink points out in one of the earliest lexicography by the 8th century al-Khalil ibn Ahmad that he suggests addressing a male-presenting intersex person as ya khunathu and a female-presenting intersex person as ya khanathi while addressing an effeminate man as ya khunathatu. This suggests a clear recognition of a spectrum of sex and gender expression and a desire to address someone respectfully based on how they presented.

Tolerance of gender ambiguity and non-conformity in Islamic cultures went hand-in-hand with broader acceptance of homoeroticism. Texts like Ali ibn Nasir al-Katib’s Jawami al-Ladhdha, Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani’s Kitab al-Aghani, and the Tunisian, Ahmad al-Tifashi’s Nuz’ha al-‘Albab attest to the widespread acceptance of same-sex desire as natural. Homoeroticism is a common element in much of Persian and Arabic poetry where youthful males are often the object of desire. From Abu Nuwas to Rumi, from ibn Ammar to Amir Khusraw, some of the Islamic world’s greatest poets were composing verses for their male lovers. Queer love was openly vaunted by poets. One, Ibn Nasr, immortalizes the love between two Arab lesbians Hind al Nu’man and al-Zarqa by writing:

“Oh Hind, you are truer to your word than men. Oh, the differences between your loyalty and theirs.”

...

Acceptance of same-sex desire and gender non-conformity was the hallmark of Islamic societies to such a degree that European travelers consistently remarked derisively on it. In the 19th century, Edward Lane wrote of the khawal: “They are Muslims and natives of Egypt. As they personate women, their dances are exactly of the same description as those of the ghawazee; and are, in like manner, accompanied by the sound of castanets.”

A similarly scandalized CS Sonnini writes of Muslim homoerotic culture:

“The inconceivable appetite which dishonored the Greeks and the Persians of antiquity, constitute the delight, or to use a juster term, the infamy of the Egyptians. It is not for women that their ditties are composed: it is not on them that tender caresses are lavished; far different objects inflame them.”

In his travels in the 19th century, James Silk Buckingham encounters an Afghan dervish shedding tears for parting with his male lover. The dervish, Ismael, is astonished to find how rare same-sex love was in Europe. Buckingham reports the deep love between Ismael and his lover quoting, “though they were still two bodies, they became one soul.”

...

Today, vocal Muslim critics of LGBTQ+ rights often accuse gay and queer people of imposing a “Western” concept or forcing Islam to adjust to “Western values” failing to grasp the irony of the claim: the shift in the 19th and 20th century was precisely an alignment with colonial values over older Islamic ones, all of which led to legal criminalization. In fact, the common feature among nations with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation isn’t Islam, but rather colonial law.

Don't talk to me I'm weeping. I'm not Muslim, but the grief of colonization runs in the blood of every Global South person. Dicovering these is like finding our lost treasures among plundered ruins.

Queer folk have always, always been here; we have always been inextricable, shining golden threads in the tapestry of human history. To erase and condemn us is to continue using the scalpel of colonizers in the mutilation and betrayal of our own heritage.

[that-rad-jewish-girl]

“It’s hard to fight for gay rights when you’re just fighting for your lives.”

I’m gonna lose my mind if I hear one more person say that Palestine has no rights for LGBT folk because of the conflict. That Palestinians “don’t have time” to give these rights because of the war.

Y’know, I could argue that you shouldn’t have time to care because of the war. The government should not have time to punish gay people. They should have bigger priorities than pushing gay people off buildings. Why is beheading a gay man higher up on the priority list than building shelters for civilians?

Jewish people make up all walks of life. You will find Jews who follow the strictest laws and wear the most modest clothing they can find. You will also find Jews who dress for a rave and go party in a giant pride parade. Both of these extremes (and everyone in-between) coexist in Israel. You might disagree with what “kind” of Jew someone is - but you don’t attack them for it.

That is ultimately why Israel has the rights it does. So why doesn’t Palestine?

[lihyot-am-chofshi-beartzeinu]

The accusation of "Pinkwashing" is a conspiracy theory that taps into several antisemitic canards. Specifically, it paints Israeli support for queer rights not as a hard-won fight by a minority group inside of a flawed democracy. Instead, Israel's record on queer rights is cast as a malicious intentional public relations move by a hive-minded conspiratorial group trying to distract from their other crimes.

Once you believe that, anything positive from Israel can be believed as part of a broader conspiracy theory for nefarious purposes.

And from that, it's not a big leap into believing that anything from Israel - which is home to 50% of the world's Jewish population - is also just as malicious and insincere.

And once you're there, it's easy to agree with the following statement:

"[...the National Socialist movement] will prevent the Jewish people from intruding themselves among all the other nations as elements of internal disruption, under the mask of honest world citizens, and thus gaining power over these nations."

That was declared by Adolf Hitler, in a two-hour-long speech he delivered on January 30, 1937 in the Reichstag - the fourth anniversary of his appointment as Chancellor of Germany.

The Pro-Palestinian movement is, in its current form, literally impossible to tell apart from actual Nazis.

Adapted text from @the-library-alcove

[charleezard]

This might be an unpopular opinion, or not, and it likely will get me hate but idk it's been on my mind.

The concept of "pinkwashing" makes no sense. In fact I'd even say it's built upon a foundation of antisemitism. It borders on conspiracy theory.

You're making an assumption that Israel celebrates LGBTQ+ pride, is queer friendly, promotes queer rights, only and/or primarily as a way to manipulate and distract innocent gullible people.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Israel and the Israeli government are perfect and can do no wrong, I also criticize them when necessary. But even when we're pointing out things we think they do wrong, can't we also admit that maybe, just maybe, they do some things right as well? Why are you viewing a country celebrating queer rights and being welcoming to queer people as a bad thing? Even in a country you don't like, a country you view as doing many things wrong, there are still queer people who deserve rights and acceptance and celebration, and I don't think that should EVER be viewed as a bad thing.

And to continue my first point. The fact you see everything done by Israel (which, even if you don't want to admit it, we know you view just as a stand in for Jewish people) as some sneaky, evil, manipulative thing, and never as maybe something done with genuine and good intentions tells us a lot about how you view Jewish people. It really does and you can cry and scream you're not antisemitic but you're not the one who gets to decide that. You most likely are and need to deconstruct a lot of that subconscious internal biases that society gave you. So maybe next time you see a Pride event in Israel and feel like screaming "Pinkwashing", stop a little, and think to yourself what you really mean by that