LGBT Activists Slam anti-Israel Behavior at Conference as Dangerous

[King_David]

Demonstrators forcibly shut down a reception hosted by A Wider Bridge, a group that forges ties between LGBT Jews in Israel and North America.

Days after 200 anti-Israel demonstrators forcibly shut down a reception at the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Creating Change conference, a group of American LGBT activists, both Jewish and non-Jewish, condemned the protesters’ behavior as “unacceptable and not in accord with the Task Force’s values of pluralism, inclusivity and thoughtful debate.”
The strongly worded open letter published Wednesday and signed by 90 people, including Edie Windsor, the plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court case that resulted in gay marriage being legalized nationally, and former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), said the 90 signatories “unequivocally express our collective and deep concern” about the incident on Friday.
“We are united in our belief that what transpired at [the conference, when demonstrators disrupted a reception by A Wider Bridge, a group that forges ties between LGBT Jews in Israel and North America] was dangerous, deeply disturbing, and given the use of epithets like ‘kike,’ clearly anti-Semitic,” the letter stated.

The letter called on the National LGBTQ Task Force to have an “outside, independent party” review the incident at the conference to determine how it happened and what should be done to “ensure that it will not happen again.”
The signatories said they also believe the Task Force “as well as all other LGBTQ organizations need to consider and adopt some form of an ‘active pluralism’ policy with respect to these issues. Such a policy, while respecting the free speech rights of individuals and groups, would not allow protesters to effectively censor the speech of other groups, much less threaten the physical well-being and safety of those with whom they do not agree, including Jewish and Israeli LGBTQ groups.”



read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/news/1.699987

[King_David]

1. Gay Rights Luminaries Speak Out Against LGBTQ Anti-Semitism

Last Friday, nearly 200 demonstrators staged a rowdy protest at Creating Change, an annual LGBTQ conference. The protesters stormed a reception hosted by A Wider Bridge, which connects queer Jewish Americans with LGBTQ Israelis, shouting slogans against Zionism and pinkwashing. Many commenters, myself included, detected in the protest a troubling undertone of anti-Semitism, and the National LGBTQ Task Force, which sponsored the conference, issued a semi-apology.

On Wednesday, the fallout continued when a group of LGBTQ luminaries signed an open letter to the Task Force condemning the protesters’ actions as “extremely dangerous” and “unacceptable.” Roberta Kaplan—lead counsel on United States v. Windsor, which successfully toppled the Defense of Marriage Act—spearheaded the letter. Among its nearly 50 signatories were Evan Wolfson, the marriage equality mastermind; Barney Frank, the openly gay former congressman; Christine Quinn, former speaker of the New York City Council; and Edie Windsor, the Linda Brown of the marriage equality movement.

Naturally, the letter touches on anti-Semitic aspects of the protest, including the reported use of the epithet “kike.” But it is equally concerned with the protesters’ (successful) effort to censor the reception—simply because they dislike Israel. The Task Force, the letter argues, should adopt an “active pluralism” policy with respect to controversial speakers:



http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/01/27/roberta_kaplan_and_evan_wolfson_speak_out_against_lgbqt_anti_semitism.html