First on Fox — A watchdog group aiming to expose hypocrisy announced Monday that it will donate $1 million to “Queers for Palestine” or any U.S. LGBTQ advocacy organization that holds an event. Gay Pride Parade In Gaza or the West Bank.
Anti-Israel groups such as “Queers for Palestine” have sprung up across the United States since the October 6 attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group, but Homosexuality is still extremely taboo Gay and transgender people in the Palestinian territories, Gaza and the West Bank face considerable persecution and are often subjected to horrific acts.
New tolerance Campaign (NTC) President Gregory T. Angelo, who is gay and a former president of the Log Cabin Republicans, said the campaign is a “warning” to all those who identify as being part of the “Queers for Palestine” or “Gays for Gaza” movements.
“I don’t want people to brush this campaign off as some kind of publicity stunt or ridiculous,” Angelo said. “It’s actually a legitimate proposition.” Fox News Digital,
Pride month for Palestinian gays
Pro-LGBTQ flags and symbols are often seen at anti-Israel protests in the United States. (Karen Klosky, via Storyful)
“This campaign has been launched to call out these supposed supporters of LGBT equality and put their hands over their mouths,” he added. “I think this is a real opportunity for these groups to legitimately come forward and hold an event that will either highlight the fact that the Palestinian territories are actually not a good place for LGBTQ individuals to live, or it could be a watershed moment for pluralism and peace in the Middle East.”
The New Tolerance Campaign said it has received commitments for the $1 million prize and will begin promoting the proposal by airing mobile billboards around Columbia University in New York City, the Human Rights Campaign headquarters in Washington, D.C., and UCLA in Los Angeles.
“Obviously, the $1 million prize is something that is attractive. It was designed to attract attention; it was designed to get people’s attention. But the biggest motivation behind this project is equality and broader human rights,” Angelou said.
The campaign will also allow ordinary Americans to send messages directly to senior leadership of the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the LGBTQ Task Force, and advocates for trans equality, encouraging them to fight for LGBTQ rights in the Palestinian territories and Arab countries.
Video shows anti-Israel protesters blocking Philadelphia Pride parade
Gay pride parades take place across the US each year.
Angelou said, “To the left in the United States all oppression is the same oppression. And I think the left, to its own detriment, lumps everything from racial discrimination to sexual orientation discrimination, gender discrimination to Islamophobia, all under the same umbrella. That’s certainly not the case.”
Angelou said that many anti-Israel protesters in the United States insist that LGBTQ people are not treated particularly well in the United States when asked about the facts of how they are treated in Gaza or the West Bank.
“Well, that’s far from the truth. Here in the United States, we have protections from job discrimination for gay and trans individuals that came through Supreme Court rulings. We have gay marriage laws in all 50 states, and more generally, in addition to the law, we have a country that welcomes people of all faiths and families,” Angelou said.
“Compare this to the Palestinian territories, where gay marriage is not even a possibility or discussion,” he said. “There are no protections in terms of employment for sexual orientation or gender.”
Palestinian Authority police prevented a gay and transgender rights group from holding events in the territory in 2019 West Coast and threatened to arrest participants. Meanwhile, Israel often promotes its tolerance on sexual orientation issues and Tel Aviv prides itself on its reputation as a top destination for gay and lesbian travelers.
Angelo said he was stunned when he visited the West Bank during a trip to Israel in 2013.
“I saw with my own eyes not only the inequality in gay rights, but actually the inequality in human rights, which is so evident when I enter Israel and the Palestinian territories,” Angelou said.
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According to the New Tolerance Campaign’s website, it describes itself as a “watchdog organization” that “inspires Americans to confront the double standards of intolerance perpetrated by established institutions, civil rights groups, universities, and socially conscious brands.”
“The NTC Action Campaign empowers ordinary Americans to hold self-appointed arbiters of tolerance accountable when they betray their own proclaimed values,” the site states.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
