Gaza War Ignites a Civil War Within the LGBT Community
Pride month is almost over, but it seemed like barely anything happened. There were parades, but it wasn’t as ‘in your face’ as in other years. Maybe it’s because different things are going on, maybe it’s because it’s an election year, or perhaps it’s because the war in Gaza has fractured the LGBT community in ways that are baffling.
I will never step in to stop liberals from cannibalizing each other, and this is no exception. It’s a bit entertaining: some are openly pro-Hamas, while others rightfully point out how nonsensical that position is in this situation. The New York Times wrote about this civil war within the gay community and how it’s set Fire Island ablaze (via NYT):
The dispute on Fire Island, just off Long Island, was just one expression of the tensions over the Gaza war that have wracked American public life. But within New York’s L.G.B.T.Q. community, whose members hail from every ethnic and social background and tend to be highly attuned to issues of social justice, the war has touched off some especially raw conflicts.
[…]
The fight over how the community should respond to the war in Gaza has played out in fiery online comments and false accusations of pro-Hamas activity. On Fire Island, the flag conflict has pitted Mr. Torres and local homeowners, including Mr. Lucas, against the very activists honored at the park. Elsewhere in New York, similar, if lower profile, disputes have shaken gay bars, L.G.B.T.Q. fund-raising dinners and Pride festivities.
“I think queer people are mostly on one side of the debate,” said Afeef Nessouli, a journalist and activist who has been highlighting the stories of L.G.B.T.Q. people in Gaza on his popular social media channels since the war began. “It feels like queer people are coming out for Palestine in a really large way.”
Indeed, members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community overwhelmingly self-identify as politically liberal or moderate, according to polls. A majority of Democrats have disapproved of Israel’s actions since at least last November, one month after the war began, according to Gallup surveys.
[…]
…supporters of Israel, including some vocal L.G.B.T.Q. people, often argue that the community should support the country because, while it lags behind Western countries on some gay rights issues, it is more tolerant than other places in the Middle East.
In Gaza, like in many places in the Arab world, homosexuality remains taboo and gay life happens largely behind closed doors. Government persecution is not uncommon, and in one high-profile case Hamas killed a prominent commander after accusing him of embezzlement and homosexuality.
(Read more from “Gaza War Ignites a Civil War Within the LGBT Community” HERE)
