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As the hellish warfare between Israel and Hamas unfolds, there are very sturdy feelings being expressed about who’s guilty. However no matter what your stance is, I hope we are able to all agree that dehumanizing individuals is rarely the reply.
Sadly, some individuals on-line are justifying the brutality in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza by weaponizing Hamas’ homophobia, utilizing that as a legitimate cause to wage warfare on a whole group of individuals. Homosexuality is a criminal offense in Palestine. In 2022, a homosexual Palestinian man who went to Israel for asylum was discovered brutally murdered within the West Financial institution. Due to Hamas’ cruelty towards homosexual individuals, a really uninformed and insensitive opinion is at present floating round: that Israel’s actions in opposition to anybody in Hamas-controlled territory are justified. One U.S.-based queer publication went so far as to assert that “in the event you’re an LGBTQ+ father or mother, you need to fear about Hamas gunning down your children.”
Let me be completely clear. Homophobia exists in each nation at various levels. And no total group deserves the wrath of warfare as a result of their authorities outlaws queer expression.
Should you dwell in a rustic with a authorities that has institutionalized homophobia or transphobia — which, let’s face it, is most international locations — then that that is an inherently tragic justification for mass violence. Governments are seldom an correct illustration of all of the individuals they govern, and bombs don’t selectively select who they’re going to kill.
There are harmless queer individuals making an attempt to outlive in Palestine. And their poignant requires justice have been resounding globally over the previous week by way of Queering the Map — which is probably going the one of many solely means for expressing themselves on this approach.
Queering the Map is a community-based platform the place queer customers everywhere in the world map moments they’ve had with different queer individuals — romantic, platonic and otherwise. Anybody can put up to the location, although creator Lucas LaRochelle advised The New York Occasions they and different volunteers evaluate and approve the messages earlier than they’re posted to filter out trolls or hateful posts.
A number of accounts coming from Gaza have gone viral in current days. Although they’re unable to be verified, they’re utterly devastating to learn. On the time of this put up, the location has been down for about 48 hours and I’ve reached out to the creator to search out out if that is, in any approach, associated to the posts from Gaza.
“Idk how lengthy I’ll dwell so I simply need this to be my reminiscence right here earlier than I die,” wrote one person. “My largest remorse isn’t kissing this one man. He died two days again.”
“I’ve at all times imagined you and me sitting out within the solar, hand in hand, free eventually,” wrote one other. “We spoke of all of the locations we’d go if we may. But you might be gone now.”
As somebody whose household comes from international locations that aren’t seen as beacons of LGBTQIA+ progress, I do know that there are lovely queer and trans communities in all the locations which can be simply dismissed as monolithically homophobic.
The queer individuals in international locations that sanction being queer and trans dwell lives which can be usually subversive, advanced and completely price residing. There are additionally those that don’t perform as brazenly queer individuals, however hope to have the ability to some day. LGBTQ+ progress means maintaining queer individuals alive, particularly in locations the place they’ve much more obstacles to beat.
Each time I learn new posts on Queering the Map, it turns into increasingly more clear that this was a warfare began by governments, and like all wars, the worst of the struggling goes to be absorbed by on a regular basis individuals — together with queer and trans Palestinians.
It doesn’t appear to be this battle can have any actual winners, and we are able to’t let our political stance get in the way in which of seeing the truth of others’ humanity. We are able to acknowledge the political problems with any nation, however at any time when we let go of our skill to see individuals as worthy of life, we’re dropping on a a lot deeper stage.
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