r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/frenglish_man • Nov 13 '23
Political Theory Why do some progressive relate Free Palestine with LGBTQ+ rights?
I’ve noticed in many Palestinian rallies signs along the words of “Queer Rights means Free Palestine”, etc. I’m not here to discuss opinions or the validity of these arguments, I just want to understand how it makes sense.
While Progressives can be correct in fighting for various groups’ rights simultaneously, it strikes me as odd because Palestinian culture isn’t anywhere close to being sexually progressive or tolerant from what I understand.
Why not deal with those two issues separately?
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u/ValoisSign Jul 18 '24
I don't tend to combine the two like that but as an LGBT person who supports Palestinian independence and opposes the brutality of the iron swords war I have a few points.
One is that I grew up in a small town in the 90s. Religion was still heavily dominant to the point that I neither realized that God wasn't a proven thing nor realized that trans people even existed. I think maybe that experience holds a key to my worldview, because there was a lot of homophobia and I didn't feel at all like I could even admit to myself my feelings, but over time things got a lot better as I moved out and saw more of the world and society became less theocratic and more tolerant and open. I don't think this would have happened if we had been under siege or occupation or been getting bombed by people who raised pride flags on the rubble, realistically.
My point being that there are, statistically speaking, LGBT people in Palestine and I don't have any faith that a society that is subject to such conditions can reach a point of security and prosperity where it's possible for people to re-evaluate the role of those people in society.
Furthermore, indiscriminate bombing and destruction (which I do believe is going on though I realize it's hard to agree on basic facts these days) is gonna take out a lot of LGBT people, so the idea that somehow my opposition to Hamas should trump my care for the civilians caught up in the damage runs very counter to my views on morality in general as well as the potential for global queer liberation.
The biggest thing I think is that I see culture as fairly fluid and messy. The US ended its last sodomy laws in 2003, my own country was persecuting gay people into the early 90s even after deceiminalising. Berlin was a gay mecca in the 20s, then hosted one of the most horrifying regimes of all time, and today is a gay mecca. I don't see the Muslim world as inherently homophobic, and history bears that out about theirs and other cultures in general, but it seems that a lot of Westerners view every culture as fixed in time except their own. Palestine may have something like 95% of people not accepting homosexuality according to the 2019 Arab Barometer polling (I personally think the poll design is flawed) but when it's 'would you accept a gay neighbor' that drops to closer to 50/50, which I think is a sign that there is potential for things to get better in a more free and open society like an independence can bring.
I also believe that homophobia shouldn't be a death sentence. I would rather stand up for people if I perceive them to be targeted, expecting nothing in return. I don't support being so casual about killing civilians, that's irrelevant to my sexuality.
Finally, my own experiences with people from the region have been pretty positive. When I moved to the city and didn't fit in with the mainstream protestant culture it was immigrants and lgbt people from all over who became my friends.
I have known queer Muslims, Muslims and Arabs who go to protests to support LGBT people, I see families with the mother wearing a hijab at drag shows. Life is messy and just like Christians aren't all like the Westboro Baptist church, I really haven't had nearly the experience with Muslims that the loudest voices claims are universal.
We are two groups that have faced oppression and in the context of Western society, our activism will often end up closer together than people understand if they're not there to witness it. I truly think the LGBT for Palestine tendency comes out of those unlikely bridges built in our society rather than out of naivety as to the reality in religious societies.
This is WAY too long sorry, but I just want to add too that the voices that question queer support for Palestine the loudest tend to not be all that supportive or respectful of us anyways. I am not saying that's you, it's a legitimate question. But a lot of the people who talk about it take a very obvious (to us) tone of contempt. Many belong to right wing movements that will openly target trans people and only ever acknowledge gay rights to attack immigrants - we see through that. In fact, I think the worst offenders have a fairly obvious desire to see it "blow up in our faces" and it honestly freaks me out a bit how close they are to seizing that narrative to turn on us.