LGBT organizations far and wide are fighting Pinkwashing, which is an ongoing phenomenon. This is done through conferences, protests, and boycotts. Considering that countries in the Global South are not the safest place to openly express one’s sexuality, we should pay special attention to collaborations that organizations based in the Global South are able to lead and participate in. This page includes details summaries of some of these collaborations that have occurred in the past. The first three sections of this page are focused on Israel’s Pinkwashing and the way it affects Palestinians, while the last section covers India’s Pinkwashing and the way it affects Kashmiris.
- Boycott Jerusalem World Pride 2006
- Protest USSF 2010
- World Social Forum: Free Palestine 2012
- India and Kashmir in 2019
In the following map, the collaborative fight against Israeli Pinkwashing led by Global South activists is visualized. Though many collaborations were led by Global North organizations and activists, they are not included in this map. Additionally, large conferences such as NEDWA do not explicitly revolve around Pinkwashing. However, they are held and attended by the leading organizations in the anti-Pinkwashing fight and thus Pinkwashing is likely mentioned. The red dots represent conferences, the blue dots are boycotts, and the green dots are protests.
Boycott Jerusalem World Pride 2006
An early instance of Global South organizations collaborating to fight Israeli Pinkwashing was the boycott against Jerusalem World Pride 2006. Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), a US-based LGBT organization, issued statements to promote the boycott. With their help, Aswat and Helem were able to collaborate and issue their own statements. World Pride is a global event that is meant to bring together sexual minorities. Holding it in Jerusalem with the theme “love without borders” is ironic, considering the existence of the apartheid wall built by Israeli and the human rights violations that they commit in Jerusalem, the city known for being the heart of the conflict.
“The theme of the event is “love without borders,” which is particularly ironic given that this city was initially declared by the UN in 1947 to be an international zone. Israel occupied half of it in 1948, and the other half in 1967 and has annexed the entire city, despite UN resolutions. Walls and soldiers form a very strong border that is often insurmountable to Palestinians.”
– QUIT!
– Aswat, the Palestinian Feminist Center for Gender and Sexual Freedoms, is a local nonprofit organization. It was established in 2003, making it the first Palestinian LGBT organization.
– Helem is the first LGBT rights organization in the Arab world. It was officially established in Beirut, Lebanon in 2001 and has continuously supported Palestinian queers.
Protest USSF 2010
Pinkwashing can also be fought by protesting events that intentionally or unintentionally endorse it. The United States Social Forum is an annual gathering of social justice activists. USSF 2010 was held in Detroit, Michigan. Unfortunately, one of the many planned workshops, titled “LGBTQI Liberation in the Middle East,” was to be held by StandWithUs (SWU), a right-wing Zionist Israeli advocacy organization. According to an organizer’s reflection on the protest, SWU falsely presented itself as anti-racist and non-violent to get its workshop approved. This alarmed Arab queers, and four Arab LGBT organizations responded with a letter, titled “Arab Queers Say NO to Pinkwashing at the USSF.” These four groups were Aswat, Helem, Al-Qaws, and Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (PQBDS). Initially, the USSF organizers refused to cancel the workshop due to fears of losing NGO funding. Fortunately, due to the persistence of pro-Palestinian groups, the SWU workshop was canceled one day before USSF began.
– Al-Qaws is a grassroots Jerusalem-based queer Palestinian political organization.
– PQBS is is a group of Palestinian queer activists who live in the Palestinian Occupied Territory and inside Israel, who came together to promote and stand for the Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.
World Social Forum: Free Palestine 2012
Another way to spread the word and fight Israel’s Pinkwashing was found through attending conferences. In 2012, the World Social Forum: Free Palestine was held in Porto Alegre, Brazil. This global event was dedicated to Palestinians and served as a public space to show solidarity with them. It was organized by Palestinian and Brazilian committees and was held from November 28th to December 1st.
Many Palestinian LGBT organizations attended the “Queer Visions at the World Social Forum Free Palestine ” conference, including Al-Qaws, Palestinian Queers for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and Pinkwatching Israel. Activists from Nasawiya (Lebanon), Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (Canada), Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK), and Safra Project (UK) also participated.
Pinkwatching Israel was launched in 2010 as a hub for information sharing on Brand Israel. It now works to create a global movement to promote queer-powered calls against pinkwashing and pushing the Boycott, Sanctions, and Divestment Campaign against Israel to the forefront of the global queer movement.
India and Kashmir
The three examples mentioned are all concerned with Israeli Pinkwashing’s effect on Palestine. Unfortunately, this is not the only country that participates in Pinkwashing. It is simply the case of Pinkwashing that is addressed most frequently while other cases often go unmentioned. For example, the Indian government used Pinkwashing as one of its many justifications for it to rule over Kashmir. Article 370 of the Constitution of India granted autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Indian Union. In 2019, J&K lost their special status when Article 370 was removed. Many of those who argue in favor of the removal of Article 370 claim that this would provide queer Kashmiris with freedom. This is because homosexuality was decriminalized in India in 2018.
According to Sohini Chatterjee, this is considered Pinkwashing as a result of Homonationalism because the Indian government deems queers worthy of protection as long as they assimilate and comply. Consequently, homophobia within India goes unaddressed. Queer Kashmiris are expected to comply with India’s nationalistic goals of making Kashmir a Hindu nation. India takes on a modern and inclusive appearance while Dalits, Muslims, Adivasis, and sex workers are still marginalized. Those who support the removal of Article 370 also fail to mention that Kashmir’s Constitution never criminalized homosexuality and that the Indian apex court’s decisions already applied to J&K before they lost their autonomy.
In October 2019, a conference titled “Resisting Fascism, Building Solidarities, India Kashmir and Beyond” was held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. They were to discuss India’s rise in fascism and appropriation of LGBT+ identities to meet political and financial gains and the lockdown of Kashmir after its loss of special status. It was held by the South Asia Solidarity Group (SASG) and attended by the Kashmir Solidarity Movement and Madaniya – Sudan Diaspora Global. There were activists from Palestine, Sudan, and India. The first session was interrupted by a group of masked students who claimed to be defenders of LGBTQ rights. A report on this conference described these students as “imitating Israeli strategies as ever with a woefully unconvincing attempt at ‘Pinkwashing’.”