Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back screening and teach-in

What do feminism and queer and trans politics have to do with the war on Gaza? Why is it currently so popular to claim that Hamas mistreats LGBTQ+ people? What is the history of Israel's claims to be a paradise for queer and trans rights? And why are people calling this "pinkwashing"? What responsibility do queer and trans people have in helping to liberate Palestine? 
 

Join the Department of Gender Women and Sexuality Studies for a two-part teach-in about queer and trans politics and Palestine. 
 

We are joined by Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg of the Jewish Voice for Peace Rabbinical Council, and Aren Aizura, faculty in GWSS. A Q&A will follow the film, and a conversation about how queer and trans people on campus and in the Twin Cities can show solidarity with Palestine. 
 

Film synopsis: Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back! is an hour-long documentary on anti-pinkwashing and Palestine solidarity activism in Seattle, edited by Amy Mahardy and directed by Dean Spade. In 2012, activists in the Pacific Northwestern region of the US responded to an Israeli Consulate-funded pinkwashing tour featuring Israeli gay and lesbian activists that was coming to the region. Local queer Palestine solidarity activists exposed the “Rainbow Generations” tour as pro-Israel propaganda and got some of the events, including the tour’s centerpiece event hosted by the City of Seattle’s LGBT Commission, cancelled. A significant backlash ensued involving the Seattle City Council and Seattle’s leading LGBT and HIV organizations. Through the inspiring story of these activists’ victory, “Pinkwashing Exposed” explores how pinkwashing works and what local activists are doing to fight back.
 

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Stay tuned for news about Part 2 in early December!