ACT UP NY And JVP-NY Drop “Stop Arming Israel” Banner Across From Historic St. Vincent’s Hospital Before President Biden Speaks
Echoing the LGBTQ trailblazers who took to the streets 55 years ago today, Queer and Trans New Yorkers cover West Village in banners and posters ahead of Biden’s visit to say stop arming Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
New York, New York (June 28, 2024) — On the morning of Stonewall National Monument’s Grand Opening, where President Biden is set to speak, Queer and Trans New Yorkers dropped banners from the NYC AIDS Memorial, home to epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in NYC and blocks from the Stonewall Inn reading “Queers to Biden: Stop Arming Israel,” and “From New York to Gaza: Stonewall was an Intifada.” ACT UP, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other anti-Zionist organizations have taken action throughout Pride month to make it clear that there is no queer liberation without Palestinian liberation.
“Stonewall was about kicking the cops out of our lives. Biden can’t come here and pretend to support us while he drops bombs on people in Gaza. The girls and guys will keep on fighting, chanting, marching til every damn person is free, including Palestinians.”
said Miss Major, Stonewall veteran, legendary trans activist, and NYC Pride Grand Marshal.
55 years ago today, our LGBTQ ancestors made history by throwing the first bricks in the uprising that would kick off the gay liberation movement at the Stonewall Inn. While President Biden’s speech today erases this radical history, protestors reclaimed Stonewall’s legacy as a rebellion against the state violence and police brutality that LGBTQ+ folks were facing:
“There is no pride in genocide, and the Stonewall Riots showed us that there is no pride without resistance and resilience against state violence in all its forms. Queer and trans people who believe in collective liberation know that our lives and destiny are bound up in that of our Palestinian family.”
said Raquel Willis, writer, activist, and NYC Pride Grand Marshal.
For the last nine months, the US-backed Israeli military has waged a genocidal campaign in Gaza leading to the deaths of more than 37,718 Palestinians, and over 21,000 children missing. The Israeli military has bombed the entirety of Gaza, displacing millions, destroyed Gaza’s hospital system, operated torture centers, targeted tents and refugee camps, and blocked the entrance of humanitarian aid ensuring mass starvation in Gaza.
The United States government is supplying the Israeli military with an endless flow of weapons and is directly complicit in this genocide. President Biden is the top decision maker behind U.S. support for Israel, and the majority of Americans want him to stop arming Israel now.
“We refuse to allow our identities – as queers, as Jews – to be weaponized to justify the genocide. We reject pinkwashing and refuse to allow Biden to co-opt our liberation movements as he continues to enable genocide. Our LGBTQ+ siblings in Gaza have no more refuge from Israeli bombs than any other Palestinians,”
said BC Craig, Professor, ACT UP member from 1987-1996, and current JVP member.
Although gay marriage is illegal in Israel, Pinkwashing is a long-running strategy aimed to bolster the Israeli state by linking it to queerness and progressive values, presenting an Islamophobic depiction of Palestinian identity as violently homophobic. “Pinkwashing exploits global support for LGBTQ+ rights to further an Israeli ultranationalist political agenda and legitimize the oppression of Palestinians,”
noted Sa’ed Atshan, chair of the Department of Peace and conflict studies at Swarthmore College and author of Queer Palestine and the Empire of Critique.
Posters put up throughout the West Village ahead of Biden’s speech included “Queers to Biden: Stop Funding Israel,” “From New York to Gaza, Stonewall was an Intifada,” “No Queer Liberation Without Palestinian Liberation,” and “No Pride in Genocide, Stop Killing Palestinians.”
Audio/visuals available included here:
Photographs and videos of the banner drop from Stonewall Bar and posters throughout West Village.
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Super Hi-Res Poster Set for Print Distribution (Print, Paste, Take Action!):
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Founded in 1987, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. ACT UP currently meets every Monday night on Zoom. Notes: you will be asked to contribute your first & last name and email address to access online meetings, and KN-95 masks are required for ACT UP NY in person meetings/actions/gatherings. All individuals are welcome!
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