Queers Say No Pinkwashing in the Pacific Northwest

My friend Selma and I were gripping each other’s hands tightly last Thursday night, March 15th, as Seattle’s LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Commission voted on whether to cancel an Israeli pinkwashing event that was scheduled to happen the next day at Seattle City Hall. We had both spoken in favor of cancelling the event, and I knew that Selma, a queer Palestinian American activist, couldn’t help but feel like they were deciding on the legitimacy of her personal history. Read more, here. 

Seattle Rejects StandWithUs Pro-Israel Pinkwashing Campaign, Richard Silverstein

Phan Nguyen exposed a good deal of the seamy underside of the StandWithUs-Ministry of Foreign Affairs pinkwashing campaign here in the Pacific NW that ended with the Seattle city LGBT Commission cancelling a gala reception it had planned with an Israeli LGBT delegation brought here to showcase Israel as a haven for gay rights (in opposition to the supposed repression of said rights in the Arab world).  The Seattle city commission took this action after a hearing at which proponents and opponents of the visit by the Israeli delegation got to air their views.  Opponents did not object to meeting with the Israeli delegation.  They objected to the government funding of the tour and the political/hasbara ramifications that went along with such funding. For more, click here.