Seattle LGBT Commission Shuts Down Israel’s LGBT Voice

The unconscionable shutting down of gay, lesbian and transgender voices by our own community cannot be tolerated, for any reason whatsoever – I take blogger’s license – I am sad and disgusted!
By Melanie Nathan 03/15/2012

Reports have come in from the Seattle commission’s meeting tonight that in an act of unprecedented cowardice the Seattle LGBT Commission has silenced the voices of a group of Israeli LGBT leaders by cancelling a meeting which was to be held tomorrow for the purpose of dialogue about common issues impacting our LGBT youth and communities. The information was received tonight from a source at the commission meeting.

A group of LGBTI panelists from the Association of Israeli LGBT Educational Organizations (AILO) have been on tour in the U.S. to share their LGBTI activist and organizational experiences with U.S.A. counterparts.

Sponsored by A Wider Bridge, http://www.awiderbridge.org/ the group consists of a coalition made up from Israel Gay Youth, Tehila, (the Israeli P-FLAG) and Hoshen, all who have been involved in inspiring work in Israel, to ensure inclusion for LGBT youth and equality for families.

When does anti-Israel activism step on the toes of pro LGBT activism? Well I can say tonight it did and the Seattle Commission bought into the diatribe of a small group of anti-Israel propagandists.

No matter which side of the Israel-Palestine conflict one finds oneself, I believe the most important duty for an LGBTQI commission is to recognize the commonality of all LGBTQI people in the world; we are unified in a worldwide struggle for equality and acceptance.  While some endorse the so called ‘pinkwashing’ of Israel and others denounce it as mere anti- Israeli or anti-Semitic smoke-screening, I believe the argument has no relevance in our mutual quest for LGBTI acceptance and equality.

At a Commission meeting this past Thursday, the room was filled with members of the same small group of anti-Israel activists who regularly misrepresent the situation in the Middle East around Seattle, accusing Israel of atrocities that are unverified, of horrors that have never taken place, using false and fabricated statistics. These anti-Israel activists represent the smallest percentage of our community and their allegations are rarely accepted or given any credence by our decision makers or historians.

 Their goal is to deny Israelis the right to speak here in the U.S. They take pride and boast whenever they succeed in closing down an event or they are able to shout down an Israeli speaker. They want to quash communication and to eliminate dialogue. They work to vilify Israel.

And on Thursday, to the embarrassment of the City of Seattle, they succeeded.

It is clear the Seattle Commission has taken its side and noted its preference by eluding the commonality of equality related issues and endorsing the “pinkwashing” propagandist rhetoric.

The activist at the helm of silencing the voice of the LGBT visitors have succeeded in effecting the cancellation of at least three events and thereby successfully silenced valuable LGBT leadership.

What they do not realize, however is they have unleashed a monster and helped many American LGBT activists on the side of dialogue, peace and fairness acquire our voice to once and for all slaughter the false notion of ‘pinkwashing’ as we now vow to retaliate with an attack on its unforgivable smokescreen, instead of retaining our defensive mode of the past.

The Seattle Commission caved to a letter and a handful of protestors at their meeting tonight.

Dean Spade, an assistant law Professor from Seattle University, who, embarrassingly enough purports to be on the side of queer equality, a Williams Institute Law Teaching Fellow at UCLA Law School and Harvard Law School, and who taught classes related to sexual orientation and gender identity law wrote a letter published on Facebook requesting that the Commission cancel all dialogue with the Israeli group. See my Earlier article at http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/seattle-university-assistant-law-professor-attempts-to-silence-visiting-israeli-lgbt-voices/

The AILO Sponsor, A Wider Bridge’s webpage  notes, that as the delegation heads to Seattle, a small group of anti-Israeli  proponents “have put pressure on local leaders for meetings to be cancelled, accusing the sponsors of bringing the visitors here to somehow distract people from the issues around the Israel-Palestinian conflict, a tactic they label as ‘pinkwashing.’” (http://www.awiderbridge.org/on-pinkwashing.html )

The Spade Facebook note tries to pressure local Seattle LGBT City Commissioners to cancel their event:  “I would strongly urge you to reconsider hosting this event, recognizing its broader significance,” noted Spade.   “A bunch of ‘pinkwashing’ events are being rolled out in Seattle this week.  I am hoping others will join me in responding.  I’m including below the text of a letter I’ve written to the Seattle LGBT Commission about the event it is hosting.”   (noted,  in part)  ( see full letters at https://www.facebook.com/notes/dean-spade/response-to-seattle-pinkwashing-events/389074711104912 )

The letter then proceeded to cite the Palestinian sided rhetoric of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and failed to place the Israeli side on the table at all, not that either side would be relevant to the visit, but certainly evidence of a political agenda on the part of its author.

According to Lauren B. Simonds, M.S.W. Program Director of StandWithUs, Northwest Regional Office, who had put a great deal of effort into organizing some of the events, “This visit is about members of the Israeli LGBTQ community coming to share the experiences of their work, and to meet with and learn from organizations in the U.S. which face similar challenges.  It’s about conversation and discussion focusing on service provision, building community inclusiveness in a diverse society, and especially on serving youth.  It’s not about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and those attempting to influence the sponsors by threatening protests, are not supporting dialogue.

Stunned by the possibility that our LGBT guests would have traveled this far to have their voices silenced by our own community, many of us launched a campaign yesterday of our own, imploring  upon the Seattle Commissioners not to cancel the LGBT dialogue with AILO.

One Commissioner Eleazar Juarez-Diaz assured me that the Commission would NOT be voting on the issue at its meeting tonight. He told me that my article from yesterday had been helpful to his understanding of another side and that the event would be going ahead in all likelihood. Today the AILO sponsors and organizers pushed forward to lobby the Commissioners not to cancel the meeting, clearly to no avail.

It would seem the Commission caved regardless of their own statements on Facebook.  They had responded to Spade suggesting that his ‘pinkwashing’ notion had merit and then invited Spade to dialogue, but asserted the meeting would continue. Now they changed their minds.  (https://www.facebook.com/seattlelgbt)

The Seattle Commission turned itself around and against their publication and word and  voted to cancel the Israeli LGBT dialogue. The Israeli group and sponsors were attending another event and was not at the meeting to defend itself.

STANDWITHUS an organizing local group from Seattle commented on the cancellation with sadness and anger:-

“We strongly condemn boycotts as anti-liberal acts and counterproductive whenever the parties are willing to communicate, which we are. Boycotting dialogue can never help any two parties to reconcile their differences.

 We expected from the Seattle LGBTQ Commission a strong declaration of its intent to support to ALL LGBTQ activists, regardless of their color, sex or national origin. Sadly, it appears that the commission, representing a minority that continues to face discrimination, also practices that same discrimination . . .

 On Thursday, the Seattle LGBTQ Commission didn’t just embarrass itself.

 It embarrassed our city and insulted representatives of Israel, one of the most progressive countries in the world on issues that one would have thought were important to an LGBTQ commission.”

The Israel LGBTI community has had to fight many forms of religious, government and socially related struggles in the context of their equality accomplishments, within their own country. Surely in that vein we all have the same struggle.  But now they have seen the dark side of our own LGBT community, which has turned its back on our guests only to exacerbate their own struggle for recognition.  I take bloggers license here – I am disgusted!

Only one Commissioner Mac S. McGregor voted for the dialogue not to be cancelled and is planning on having a ptrivate meeting with the Israeli leaders to dialogue.

Tel Aviv is often referred to as the ‘Gay Captial of the World’ and Israel is widely lauded for its liberal equality legislation, given the tendency of the Knesset (Parliament) and Israeli courts to assert independence over orthodox religious views.  However like any other country Israel’s LGBT community has encountered mammoth challenges in attaining its level of equality and we here in the USA can gain a lot from their experience.

As an LGBT activist first and foremost hearing from every LGBT person in the world, is of paramount importance, regardless of country specific politics.  The assertion that the LGBT community in Israel is being used for the sole purpose of so called ‘pinkwashing’ is in my opinion, highly offensive to their internal experience and struggle for equality. It is offensive to our mutual struggle and to that of fellow activists worldwide! It denigrates the battles that the our communities endure in each and every country and hence is universally offensive!

Calls for boycotts set a very dangerous precedent that could result in the oppression of deserving LGBT expression from around the world.

As an LGBT community we seek universal unity around the notion that sexuality in its diverse forms, is a human right, and that overrides all else for us activists.  All who fight for this belief, no matter from which country, ought to be welcome for a conversation in the USA. In my mind until equality is universal, and homosexuality decriminalized, LGBT issues per se supersede all political perspectives.

Tonight the Seattle LGBT Commissioners have set a grave precedent.

However Seattle’s LGBT Commission does not belong to us activists, those who who really believe in placing our own LGBT community and human rights for LGBT communities at the forefront. They belong to a group calling itself anti-Israel propagandists.  May they enjoy their new designation because they have failed their job!

We will not cave to the voice of a few with an ulterior motive and an agenda that does little more than disrupt our collective and unifying  quest for equality and acceptance.

The fight has just began.

Facebook page for Seattle LGBT Commission is at https://www.facebook.com/seattlelgbt

UPDATED 03/16/2012

STATEMENT BY THE ISRAELI GROUP AILO:

 “We, the leaders of three of the largest Israeli LGBTQ organizations, are part of a new partnership called AILO: The Alliance of Israeli LGBT Educational Organizations, a collaborative network of Israeli organizations working to support LGBTQ youth, families, education, and social change.

 We came to the Pacific Northwest together to meet with community leaders, to share the innovative work we are doing in Israel, to learn from counterparts in the US, and to build relationships for future collaboration.

 In that regard, we looked forward to meeting with the Seattle LGBTQ Commission.

 We learned today, just the day before the scheduled meeting, that the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, after hearing some of the worst exaggerations about our country and irrelevant statements about the organization that helped us set up our meetings here in Seattle, voted to retract their invitation and to cancel our meeting with the Commission members.

 We are overwhelmed that we are being denied the chance to have a professional discussion with the Seattle LGBTQ Commission solely because we are Israelis.

 As we in the LGBTQ community are a minority, our primary goal is to create dialog. Eliminating the opportunity for dialog goes against the very tolerance and understanding that we in Israel’s LGBTQ community and the Seattle LGBTQ commission in Seattle’s LGBTQ community are all working to achieve.

 We strongly condemn boycotts as anti-liberal acts and counterproductive whenever the parties are willing to communicate, which we are. Boycotting dialogue can never help any two parties to reconcile their differences.”

 We expected from the Seattle LGBTQ Commission a strong declaration of its intent to support to ALL LGBTQ activists, regardless of their color, sex or origin. Sadly, it appears that the commission, representing a minority that continues to face discrimination, also practices that same discrimination . . .

  AILO: The Alliance of Israeli LGBTQ Educational Organizations is a new partnership of Israeli organizations working with LGBTQ youth, families, and education. Working together to build community, teach understanding, and create change: IGY (Israel Gay Youth), Hoshen (Education & Change), & Tehila (Parents, Family & Friends of LGBTQ People). http://www.ailo.org.il

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Picture: With Sally Clark, Mac S. McGregor, Ryan McMurray, Dane G. Boog, Shaunita Felder, Tiffany Nelson, Caila Fitts, David Howenstine, Aric Lane and Marsha Botzer at Seattle City Hall.

http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/seattle-university-assistant-law-professor-attempts-to-silence-visiting-israeli-lgbt-voices/

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STATEMENT BY A WIDER BRIDGE

A Wider Bridge Appalled by Seattle LGBT Commission Cancellation of
Israeli LGBT Leaders’ Event

A Wider Bridge is appalled by the decision of the Seattle LGBT Commission to cancel a scheduled public meeting with the leaders of three prominent Israeli LGBTQ organizations currently visiting the West Coast, in response to pressure from a small number of advocates of boycott, sanctions and divestment from Israel. 

The meeting, which was scheduled to take place in Seattle’s City Hall today, planned to feature the leaders of AILO, the Association of Israeli LGBTQ Educational Organizations.  AILO is comprised of three organizations: Israeli Gay Youth (IGY), Hoshen (a Hebrew acronym for “Education and Change”) and Tehila, the Israeli version of PFLAG:  Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.   A Wider Bridge is lead sponsor of the Israeli LGBTQ leaders two-week West Coast tour, which took them to meetings with LGBTQ and Jewish leaders in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle/Tacoma to share their experiences and to learn from those working on similar challenges here in the U.S.  The discussions have focused on such topics as reducing teen suicides, HIV testing and prevention, and providing support for parents of  LGBTQ children.

A Wider Bridge is a San Francisco–based national organization that seeks to educate people about Israeli LGBTQ society, politics, and culture, and to build connections between the North American LGBTQ and Jewish communities and the LGBTQ communities of Israel.

“A group of respected Israeli LGBTQ leaders came to the U.S. to discuss their work in making Israel a more inclusive place, and a better place to be an LGBTQ teenager,” said Arthur Slepian, Executive Director of A Wider Bridge.  “Their voices have been silenced in Seattle by those who seek to demonize and delegitimize Israel, and who are willing to throw the Israeli LGBTQ community under the bus in the process.   We were dismayed that the Commission gave in to objections raised by a small number of activists.” 

“These ‘boycott Israel’ advocates claim that the purpose of the Israeli LGBTQ leaders’ meetings here is to conceal – or ‘pinkwash’ – Israel’s role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  We do not seek to distract anyone from the issues concerning the conflict,” added Mr. Slepian.  “The truth is that Israel is a good place to be LGBT, and it is so because there are countless people within Israel doing amazing, courageous work every day, especially with LGBT teens and families, saving lives, including the lives of young LGBTQ Palestinians who often have nowhere else to turn.   Their work deserves to be supported, and their stories deserve to be told.  It is not ‘pinkwashing’ to tell the truth.”

“Isolating and ignoring Israel’s LGBTQ community, pitting one minority against another, or calling for a wholesale boycott of Israel is not going to bring peace to the region any faster,”  continued Mr. Slepian.

We are deeply disturbed by the single-minded and dehumanizing tactics of those who would seek to shut down these important opportunities for engagement, dialogue, learning and collaboration.

Who We Are

A Wider Bridge is a national organization that works to create more opportunities for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Jews in the U.S. and around the world, along with friends and allies, to engage and connect with Israel.   We seek to build stronger ties between the LGBTQ  and Jewish communities in North America and the LGBTQ communities in Israel.  We accomplish our work through programs, educational and cultural events, and developing opportunities for travel.   www.awiderbridge.org. 

The Israeli Gay Youth Organization (IGY) provides a social support net to LGBTQ and questioning teens, operating in more than 25 cities and local authorities in Israel.

Hoshen (the Hebrew acronym for “Education and Change”), the education and information center of the LGBTQ community in Israel, works to fight stereotypes regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

Tehila provides support for parents and families of gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people in Israel.

ADMISSIONS OF BIAS, COWARDICE  AND FLIP FLOP BY THE SEATTLE LGBT COMMISSION

At first the Commission said this:

Seattle LGBT Commission

Seattle LGBT Commission Response to concerns raised about AILO (Alliance of Israeli LGBT Educational Organizations) as voiced by Dean Spade Dear whom it may concern,The Seattle LGBT Commission values the comments of Dean Spade, who recently brought to our attention the concerns of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and agenda of pink washing to cover up said crimes and corruption of the Israeli government. While we believe his concerns are valid, the purpose of the meeting with Israeli LGBT groups is to engage in a dialogue about their successes and progress of LGBTQ people’s rights in Israel and Seattle. While this dialogue is centered on efforts for LGBT equality we acknowledge that there is national and local concern about pink washing campaigns, occupation, and apartheid. Dean Spade’s concerns encompass a much larger issue that the commission is interested in exploring at a later date.

We invite Dean Spade to attend our monthly LGBT commission meeting to share his perspective during the public comments section of our meeting agenda, this Thursday, March 15th from 6:30-8:30pm at Seattle City Hall (600 Fourth Avenue, Boards and Commission Conference Room L-280). Our monthly meetings, and the event on Friday, March 16th from 4:30-6:30pm at City Hall (Room 370) with Israeli LGBT groups are open to the public.

The mission of the Seattle LGBT Commission, under the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, is to effectively address and present the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens of Seattle, and to recommend legislation, policy, programs, and budget items to the Mayor, City Council, and all City Departments.

More information about the upcoming monthly Seattle LGBT commission meeting and the meeting with the Israeli LGBT representatives can be found at this link: http://www.seattle.gov/LGBT/about.htm.

AND THEN THE COMMISSION SAID THIS

Seattle LGBT Commission

The Seattle LGBT Commission is hereby canceling the event scheduled for Friday, March 16, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at City Hall.

At this time, the members of the LGBT Commission feel we are not thoroughly prepared to facilitate an event surrounding such complex topics.

We have great respect for those who have shared their comments with us this week on all sides of the issue and are open to ways in which we can support community members in continuing this dialogue while involving all diverse perspectives involved.

The mission of the Seattle LGBT Commission, under the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, is to effectively address and present the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender citizens of Seattle, and to recommend legislation, policy, programs, and budget items to the Mayor, City Council, and all City Departments.

More information about the Seattle LGBT commission can be found at this link: http://www.seattle.gov/LGBT/about.htm.

 

UPDATED Here is a list of the Articles about the topic that I have written over the past week-

APOLOGY BY COMMISSION
http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/seattle-lgbt-commission-issues-apology-to-israeli-guests-but-should-still-resign/

Greater Seattle LGBT Business Association Issues letter of Outrage -http://oblogdeeoblogda.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/greater-seattle-business-association-outraged-by-seattle-lgbt-commission/

and Before that-

Jewish Voices for Peace and the Seattle LGBT Commission Anomaly

by Melanie Nathan on March 19, 2012 in POLITICAL VIEWS, LGBT, U.S.A., NEWS, WORLD, Africa, RELIGION, EVENTS, Conferences

By Melanie Nathan, March 19, 2012 I often wonder if advisory boards for non-Profit organizations keep a check on what they have tied their names to?  Many are apt to join for an appealing mission statement tied to common causes and very often because a friend or acquaintance pitched the importance. Although I do recognize […]

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US LGBT Academic Delegation Guilty of Pro-Palestinian Pinkwashing

by Melanie Nathan on March 17, 2012 in Conferences, EVENTS, LGBT, Middle East, NEWS, U.S.A., WORLD

Or who is Pinkwashing the Projected Projectiled Pinkwashers By Melanie Nathan, 03/17/2012 There has been a recent spate of targeted attacks on Israeli LGBT community and leadership visits in the USA.  The attempts to squash the meetings of all and any Israeli LGBT visitors, regardless of purpose and commonality has been helmed by a group […]

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Seattle LGBT Commission’s Boycott of Israeli LGBTI Guests Opens Wounds

by Melanie Nathan on March 16, 2012 in Conferences, EVENTS, LGBT, Middle East, NEWS, POLITICAL VIEWS, RELIGION, U.S.A., WORLD

By Melanie Nathan and Scott Rose, 03/16/2012 Caving to protests by a small anti-Israel and anti-Jewish contingency, using the guise of so called pinkwashing,  the  Seattle City LGBT Commission has silenced the voices of its Israeli LGBT guests  from the coalition Group AILO,  by cancelling, with less than 24 hours notice,  a dialogue event which […]

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Seattle LGBT Commission Shuts Down Israel’s LGBT Voice

by Melanie Nathan on March 15, 2012 in Conferences, EVENTS, Middle East, NEWS, WORLD

The unconscionable shutting down of gay, lesbian and transgender voices by our own community cannot be tolerated, for any reason whatsoever – I take blogger’s license – I am sad and disgusted! By Melanie Nathan 03/15/2012 Reports have come in from the Seattle commission’s meeting tonight that in an act of unprecedented cowardice the Seattle […]

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Seattle University Assistant Law Professor Attempts to Silence Visiting Israeli LGBT Voices

by Melanie Nathan on March 14, 2012 in POLITICAL VIEWS, LGBT, U.S.A., NEWS, WORLD, Middle East, RELIGION, EVENTS, Conferences

Denying dialogue is a means to foster hate … By Melanie Nathan, 03/14/2012 In the midst of a visit to the West Coast by a delegation of Israeli LGBT leaders, is a small group of anti-Israel proponents, who seem to be led by an assistant law Professor from Seattle University, Dean Spade, who was a […]