Israel/Palestine and the Queer International (Fund Drive Special)

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Published: 10 October 2017

Tuesday 10/10/17 at 9pm:

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a strategy of the international movement to free Palestine to non-violently pressure Israel to obey international law, by stopping the occupation of Palestine and honor their international obligations. BDS has been pilloried by establishment politicians who have gone so far as to attempt to criminalize the movement, and Governor Cuomo signed an executive order to put groups honoring the boycott on a black list. In the process the movement has captured headlines and it has made the BDS movement much more well known.

Tonight's Out-FM discusses BDS and how the international LGBTQ has been a significant part of promoting it, and in the process has expanded political organizing space for progressive Israeli and Palestinian LGBTQI activists. We'll hear excerpts from a recent panel called, "Free(Speech)Palestine: Writers Talk about BDS (Boycott,Divestment & Sanctions) and Beyond" and a live interview with prominent writer, academic, and BDS activist Sarah Schulman.

We will be offering both the book (pledge of $75) and DVD, along with a Graphic Zine called "The Power of Our Voices" Graphic art about the call for the Cultural Boycott of Israel. Artwork by Ethan Heitner ($30 for DVD and zine) in two different affordable premium packages. You can help support WBAI and this show by calling: 516.620.3602

Or pledge on line for Sarah Schulman's book "Israel/Palestine and the Queer International" and/or the DVD of Free(Speech)Palestine: Writers Talk about BDS (Boycott,Divestment & Sanctions) and Beyond (and also get the Zine.)

Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions

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Published: 12 September 2017

As part of our Queerly Defiant series, this is the first of a two-part interview by Bob Lederer about the remarkable life of Dr. Marie Equi, who lived from 1872 to 1952. Equi was a lesbian physician and political activist, primarily based in Portland, Oregon, who was devoted to providing care to working-class and poor patients, providing reproductive health care information to women, and fighting initially for civic and economic reforms, women’s right to vote and an eight-hour workday, and later for a socialist society as part of the anarchist Industrial Workers of the World or IWW. Due to her strident public opposition to World War I, which she denounced as an imperialist venture, she served 10 months in federal prison on charges of violating the Sedition Act passed at the behest of President Woodrow Wilson. Equi was also remarkably open about her intimate relationships with women in an era when doing so was extremely rare, and stigma and persecution against lesbians and gay men was extreme.

Yet despite Equi’s groundbreaking achievements, she remains almost totally unknown, both to the LGBTQ community and the Left.

In 2015, gay writer/historian Michael Helquist published the first full-length biography of Equi. Titled Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, it was published by Oregon State University Press. Michael has worked in the anti-war, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ movements since the 1970s. He has published widely in LGBTQ and mainstream publications. His biography of Equi was named a 2016 Stonewall Honor Book. He lives in San Francisco with his husband.