Home
A Rallying Cry for Palestinian Queer Liberation
- Details
Editor’s note: Haneen Maikey, the director of alQaws, delivered this speech to protesters on Wednesday July 29, 2020 in Haifa.
So much has happened since we gathered here last year, and there is so much to address. We are here today because the question of gender and sexual diversity hasn’t left the headlines in Palestine for over 12 months. It reappears time and time again, in political discussions and social debates, each time exposing discrepancies, double-standards, and heinous violence. In spite of that, we have also witnessed the strength and bravery of Palestinian gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans folks. We have seen our friends, families, and allies finally raise their voices in support of our struggle.
We are here because the majority of us are hurt and exhausted from our daily confrontations with homophobic and transphobic violence. But we are also here because we are motivated by love and fury to continue this fight.
We will combat all attempts to subjugate us, be it in the name of tired societal traditions or false morality. We are here today to outright reject any fear-mongering, from public threats to physical and emotional blackmailing. We will not be erased or silenced!
We are here to reject the co-optation of our struggle for narrow social, political and economic gains. No longer can Palestinian gays, lesbians, transgenders, and queers be reduced to a hushed taboo. No longer can we be muzzled by our hypocritical leadership. LGBT and queer issues are issues that will always concern our society at large. It’s time for others to realize we are here to stay and fight!
We gather here to protest the deceitful silence of the therapists and medical communities who betray the ethical duty to patients by enabling the practice of conversion therapy. The least they can do is call it by its name: torture! We demand that these professionals speak out on issues so central to their work! No longer can the media reduce us to hot topics in moments of crisis for mere ratings and likes! We demand engaged journalism that facilitates fruitful and healthy public discussion.
We’re here to call on our families to stand with our struggle. While we understand the challenges you may encounter, we urge you to step down from your roles as guardians to customs, traditions, reputation, and hearsay. Supporting your children and their mental and emotional wellbeing should be your priority, not what people may say about you or us!
We’ve come to Haifa, from all over Palestine, to protest the suppression of our activities and events—from Jaffa to Nablus to Ramallah! Your persecution only fuels us to create larger, louder spaces for queer life in Palestine.
We’ve come to put an end to the Israeli occupation’s attempts to exploit our pain and “pinkwash” our struggle. Over the past two decades, the colonial propaganda of pinkwashing, although persistent and well-funded, hasn’t been able to erase us! If anything, the failures of pinkwashing have only emphasized that queer liberation necessitates the liberation of Palestine and all Palestinians!
To our friends and supporters present at this demonstration: thank you for your visibility. Change will not commence without you. Let us not be consumed by polarizing discourse. Let us make space for all Palestinians, a space for curiosity and questions. Let us change together. And let that change be vast and inclusive!
We are here to assert that transformative change comes through the tireless work of the Palestinian LGBTQ community, both through their activism and in their day-to-day existence as queer people. Each day we fight the violence against us, whether inside the house or on the streets.
To our LGBT and queer communites across Palestine: let us remember that our fight is deep-rooted and positioned against all systems of oppression. Our struggle must move us towards global liberation, towards a world that is more just! Let us take responsibility for our struggle and our pain. Let us be fueled by a hunger to tear down this cruel world and build one anew.
And finally, to the people unable to be here with us today as a result of the pandemic, or concerns about appearing in public, or the colonial barriers fragmenting us across Palestine: we embrace you! Thank you to the many folks behind the scenes who have worked tirelessly to make this demonstration happen. We know you are with us. We know you are present. We hope that we did justice to your hopes and dreams, as well as your pain. We wait for the time that we all can gather together in a free, liberated Palestine!
This speech was originally published by Al Qaws on July 29, 2020 and is reprinted with permission.
Suspicious Death of Black Transgender Woman in Newark Raises Troubling Questions & Immigration Equality
- Details
Tune into Out-FM on Tue., August 11, 2020 from 8:00-9:00pm, on WBAI/NY & listen at https://www.wbai.org/listen-live/
Click for segments that made up the show. The whole show will be posted 7/29/2020
Click on green arrow to download, or select and stream the track. If no green arrow or tracks appear, activate your Flash. On firefox do the following. Look here for details or questions
Ashley Moore
Suspicious Death of Black Transgender Woman in Newark Raises Troubling Questions
WBAI will break this story on its “Out-FM” program this Tuesday:
Ashley Moore, a 26-year-old Black transgender woman, was found dead face down with strangle marks on her neck outside of her residence at the Newark, NJ YWCA on April 1, 2020. On Tuesday’s program, Starlet Carbin, the woman’s mother, will discuss the police indifference to the case, the failure of the city’s medical examiner to release the autopsy report, and officials of the Newark LGBTQ Center will discuss their efforts, along with Ms. Carbin, to obtain a thorough police investigation of the death. The police report, which misgendered Ashley, was not released for 3 months and then only after the Newark LGBT Center pressed the Newark Police Department. The family’s repeated calls to the Medical Examiner’s office regarding the autopsy report were ignored. Four months after the death, no death certificate has been issued.
Starlet Carbins, mother of Ashley Moore
Newark police detective Bullock initially told Ms. Carbins that a doctor at a Newark’s University Hospital where Ms. Moore was transported stated that the cause of Ms. Moore’s death appeared to be a vehicular impact. Later the same detective suggested that she fell from a great height. Yet initial reports by the first police on the scene of the death noted, as Ms. Carbins explained, “Ashley was found outside the YMCA face down on her stomach. And, it states that there were ligature marks [indicating rope or wire abrasions] on her legs. The lower part of her legs, her lower extremities, and neck was grossly swollen and disfigured. “ Ms. Carbins added that Ashley had rectal bleeding.
Yet a witness who lived in the YWCA reported Ashley running down the steps just before she was found dead on the sidewalk. The witness said security in the building was lacking.
In sum, the Police Department's story doesn't add up.
The family has set up a GoFundMe site to pay for an attorney to press for a full investigation.
The increased occurrence of murders and violence towards of Black transgender people, especially women, has spawned a growing nationwide movement to, among other things, oppose the indifference of the police and medical examiners. This movement has included large rallies of tens of thousands in Brooklyn and several other cities in June under the slogan “Black Trans Lives Matter.”
For more information and photos of Ashley, visit https://www.justiceforashleymoore.org/
Immigration Equality
Aaron C. Morris, ED of Immigration Equality
Naomi Brussel interviews the director of Immigration Equality, which is the leading national LGBTQ immigration rights organization. It advocates for and directly represents LGBTQ and HIV+ people facing discrimination based on sexual orientation gender Identity or HIV+ status.
Sign up for our Weekly Newsletter with show announcements
Support outfm by becoming a WBAI Buddy at: https://www.wbai.org/baibuddy.php . Please select Out-FM, our show's name when you donate, to show your support for continuing the program. - Thanks for your support!