Let me tell you a thing: This is my book. It’s coming out in two weeks! :D Here is what Julia Serano said about it: “Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution is a brilliant and comprehensive look at where the bisexual movement has been, and where it should head in the future. Rather than merely denying or debunking the countless accusations and stereotypes that plague bisexuality (as many past writers have done), Shiri Eisner exposes the underlying assumptions and misconceptions about sex, gender, and sexuality that give rise to societal monosexism and biphobia. A must read, not only for those of us who fall under the bisexual umbrella, but for feminists, queer and trans activists, and anyone who is concerned with social justice.” Here is what Carol Queen said about it: “Political, fresh and fiercely informative, Shiri Eisner’s book helps readers break through the barriers of binary thinking and see gender, attraction, desire and identity in a clear new way that supports action and insight. It’s a must-read for every LGBTQQI scholar and activist, every academic whose work brings them near sex and gender, and of course for every bisexual and lover of bisexuals — especially those who feel “bisexuality” is a too-restictive moniker in these days of gender diversity. This is the bisexuality of the 21st century, the queer omniverse, and of global movements for sexual and gender justice.” Here is what Sue George said about it: “Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution is a breath of fresh air. So much of sexual-political activism and writing these days seems to seek acceptance by mainstream society rather than profound change. Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution steps right outside of that. It is far and away the most significant analysis of bisexuality published this century.” There are more awesome things that people said about it here. Here is the book description: Depicted as duplicitous, traitorous, and promiscuous, bisexuality has long been suspected, marginalized, and rejected by both straight and gay communities alike.Bi takes a long overdue, comprehensive look at bisexual politics—from the issues surrounding biphobia/monosexism, feminism, and transgenderism to the practice of labeling those who identify as bi as either “too bisexual” (promiscuous and incapable of fidelity) or “not bisexual enough” (not actively engaging romantically or sexually with people of at least two different genders). In this forward-thinking and eye-opening book, feminist bisexual and genderqueer activist Shiri Eisner takes readers on a journey through the many aspects of the meanings and politics of bisexuality, specifically highlighting how bisexuality can open up new and exciting ways of challenging social convention.Informed by feminist, transgender, and queer theory, as well as politics and activism, Bi is a radical manifesto for a group that has been too frequently silenced, erased, and denied—and a starting point from which to launch a bisexual revolution. Here is what it’s about + some excerpts I am awfully excited about all this. I want to get the word out, I want for this book to make an actual change and to help people think about bisexuality, politics, identities and intersections. I’d be very very happy if you choose to support my work. Please reblog this, so that I can reach far and wide! THANK YOU :)))
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Let me tell you a thing:

This is my book. It’s coming out in two weeks! :D

Here is what Julia Serano said about it:

“Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution is a brilliant and comprehensive look at where the bisexual movement has been, and where it should head in the future. Rather than merely denying or debunking the countless accusations and stereotypes that plague bisexuality (as many past writers have done), Shiri Eisner exposes the underlying assumptions and misconceptions about sex, gender, and sexuality that give rise to societal monosexism and biphobia. A must read, not only for those of us who fall under the bisexual umbrella, but for feminists, queer and trans activists, and anyone who is concerned with social justice.”

Here is what Carol Queen said about it:

“Political, fresh and fiercely informative, Shiri Eisner’s book helps readers break through the barriers of binary thinking and see gender, attraction, desire and identity in a clear new way that supports action and insight. It’s a must-read for every LGBTQQI scholar and activist, every academic whose work brings them near sex and gender, and of course for every bisexual and lover of bisexuals — especially those who feel “bisexuality” is a too-restictive moniker in these days of gender diversity. This is the bisexuality of the 21st century, the queer omniverse, and of global movements for sexual and gender justice.”

Here is what Sue George said about it:

“Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution is a breath of fresh air. So much of sexual-political activism and writing these days seems to seek acceptance by mainstream society rather than profound change. Bi: Notes for a Bisexual Revolution steps right outside of that. It is far and away the most significant analysis of bisexuality published this century.”

There are more awesome things that people said about it here.

Here is the book description:

Depicted as duplicitous, traitorous, and promiscuous, bisexuality has long been suspected, marginalized, and rejected by both straight and gay communities alike.

Bi takes a long overdue, comprehensive look at bisexual politics—from the issues surrounding biphobia/monosexism, feminism, and transgenderism to the practice of labeling those who identify as bi as either “too bisexual” (promiscuous and incapable of fidelity) or “not bisexual enough” (not actively engaging romantically or sexually with people of at least two different genders). In this forward-thinking and eye-opening book, feminist bisexual and genderqueer activist Shiri Eisner takes readers on a journey through the many aspects of the meanings and politics of bisexuality, specifically highlighting how bisexuality can open up new and exciting ways of challenging social convention.

Informed by feminist, transgender, and queer theory, as well as politics and activism, Bi is a radical manifesto for a group that has been too frequently silenced, erased, and denied—and a starting point from which to launch a bisexual revolution.

Here is what it’s about + some excerpts

I am awfully excited about all this. I want to get the word out, I want for this book to make an actual change and to help people think about bisexuality, politics, identities and intersections. I’d be very very happy if you choose to support my work. Please reblog this, so that I can reach far and wide! THANK YOU :)))

thearcanetheory: bread-party: bidyke: Today, on the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, our queer-anarchist activist group, Mashpritzot, protested against pinkwashing and the “gay” community’s priorities. The group painted themselves pink in protest against pinkwashing - the cynical use of the Israeli “gay” community in order to paint Israel as a “liberal”, “progressive” country, and divert attention from the occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians. They also carried signs protesting the “gay” community’s priorities, reading: “While you fight for gay marriage, LGBTQs are sleeping on the street”, “While you fight for the right to have children, LGBTQ youth are facing parental violence”, “One quarter of bisexuals suffer from poor health”, and more. In the middle of the Pride Parade, they spread a huge rainbow flag and fell on it, feigning death. The sign seen in the picture reads: “Here lie the victims of the community’s priorities”. For more about pinkwashing:BDS, LGBT, and Why You Should Care About PinkwashingPinkwatching Israel //Pinkwashing FAQ Unfortunately no, I got stuck behind the tea partiers, because they showed up too. I did get to see a lot about the politics going on in the Tel Aviv queer community though, lets talk about that sometime. First off, major kudos to the Israelis in the photos.  But. I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this post and the people reblogging it. Part of the issue with Pinkwashing as a term is that it ignores actual queer/LGBTQ+ issues on the ground in Israel-Palestine. You can talk about the progress made — or not made —  on that axis without demeaning or diminishing the horrific oppression of the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. It never did. It never will. And on top of that, it very often crosses the line into erasing queer Israelis and Palestinians both, and potentially renders any discussion of the subject into being some sort of ~zionist conspiracy~ At the same time, there are people who DO try to take on-the-ground progress on LGBTQ+ issues and use that to try to distract from the salient issues re: Palestine and the treatment of Palestinians. Those who do this are literally hijacking the narrative of an oppressed minority along one axis to try to force silence on a group that is oppressed along another axis - all whilst ignoring Palestinian LGBTQ+ folks. Such people are GROSS, to put it mildly. But I don’t like the term “pinkwashing” for that, because that kind of behavior is systemic for those kinds of people, and doesn’t limit itself to hijacking LGBTQ+ issues (or even indeed, to Israel-Palestine, tho that isn’t relevant to this incident.) In my mind, it makes more sense to target and tackle the problemmatic behavior in question, rather than only addressing it when it is situated in a very specific immediate context - especially when the current term helps contribute to the erasure of queer Israelis and Palestinians. Also, I’m wary/worried of these protesters being tokenized as “the Good Jews,” which is urgh. Respectfully, I disagree. Pinkwashing, and not the criticism of pinkwashing, is what erases both Jewish and Palestinian queers. By focusing solely on the rights given to privileged, middle-class Jewish cisgender gay and lesbian (but not bi and trans) people, pinkwashing discourse is erasing the very real problems, oppression and needs of queer and trans people in Israel/Occupied Palestine. For example, as I wrote in my blog post about this topic (also linked above): The cost of pinkwashing takes its toll not only from Palestinians, but also from Jewish LGBT people, as incidents of violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment  against us are discretely silenced so as to prevent injury to Israel’s “progressive” image. Thus, several acts of anti-LGBT violence in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem taking place in the past two years have been conveniently neglected by the eye of the media and from public attention, remaining unaddressed by most everyone. The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, spends more money on the pride parade and the gay tourism project than on all the city-funded LGBTQ organizations combined. This, by the way, is why the protest against pinkwashing came hand in hand with the protest against the community’s priorities. As to Palestinian queer and trans people - obviously, by painting Israel as a “gay haven” for Arabic LGBTQs, pinkwashing discourse erases the violence and oppression of Palestinian LGBTQ people in particular. As I write in my post: In fact, Palestinian LGBT’s escaping their families receive a less-than-welcoming treatment from the Israeli government. For those living in Gaza and the occupied territories, the government offers the benefit of an illegal immigrant status, imprisoning and subsequently deporting the ones caught by Israeli police and military forces. As for Palestinian LGBT’s who live within Israeli borders, the government remains indifferent to their condition and lends no resources, help, nor sanctuary for those in need of its assistance. Thus the Israeli government is free to ignore the needs of Palestinian LGBT’s seeking help, while capitalizing on Palestinian society’s alleged conservatism and LGBT-phobia for its own needs of propaganda. Needless to say, of course, even those Palestinian LGBT’s residing in Israel, accepted by their families and living a peaceful life, are still forced to face copious amounts of racism and apartheid policies in their everyday lives, including within the Jewish LGBT community.
Zoom Info
thearcanetheory: bread-party: bidyke: Today, on the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, our queer-anarchist activist group, Mashpritzot, protested against pinkwashing and the “gay” community’s priorities. The group painted themselves pink in protest against pinkwashing - the cynical use of the Israeli “gay” community in order to paint Israel as a “liberal”, “progressive” country, and divert attention from the occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians. They also carried signs protesting the “gay” community’s priorities, reading: “While you fight for gay marriage, LGBTQs are sleeping on the street”, “While you fight for the right to have children, LGBTQ youth are facing parental violence”, “One quarter of bisexuals suffer from poor health”, and more. In the middle of the Pride Parade, they spread a huge rainbow flag and fell on it, feigning death. The sign seen in the picture reads: “Here lie the victims of the community’s priorities”. For more about pinkwashing:BDS, LGBT, and Why You Should Care About PinkwashingPinkwatching Israel //Pinkwashing FAQ Unfortunately no, I got stuck behind the tea partiers, because they showed up too. I did get to see a lot about the politics going on in the Tel Aviv queer community though, lets talk about that sometime. First off, major kudos to the Israelis in the photos.  But. I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this post and the people reblogging it. Part of the issue with Pinkwashing as a term is that it ignores actual queer/LGBTQ+ issues on the ground in Israel-Palestine. You can talk about the progress made — or not made —  on that axis without demeaning or diminishing the horrific oppression of the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. It never did. It never will. And on top of that, it very often crosses the line into erasing queer Israelis and Palestinians both, and potentially renders any discussion of the subject into being some sort of ~zionist conspiracy~ At the same time, there are people who DO try to take on-the-ground progress on LGBTQ+ issues and use that to try to distract from the salient issues re: Palestine and the treatment of Palestinians. Those who do this are literally hijacking the narrative of an oppressed minority along one axis to try to force silence on a group that is oppressed along another axis - all whilst ignoring Palestinian LGBTQ+ folks. Such people are GROSS, to put it mildly. But I don’t like the term “pinkwashing” for that, because that kind of behavior is systemic for those kinds of people, and doesn’t limit itself to hijacking LGBTQ+ issues (or even indeed, to Israel-Palestine, tho that isn’t relevant to this incident.) In my mind, it makes more sense to target and tackle the problemmatic behavior in question, rather than only addressing it when it is situated in a very specific immediate context - especially when the current term helps contribute to the erasure of queer Israelis and Palestinians. Also, I’m wary/worried of these protesters being tokenized as “the Good Jews,” which is urgh. Respectfully, I disagree. Pinkwashing, and not the criticism of pinkwashing, is what erases both Jewish and Palestinian queers. By focusing solely on the rights given to privileged, middle-class Jewish cisgender gay and lesbian (but not bi and trans) people, pinkwashing discourse is erasing the very real problems, oppression and needs of queer and trans people in Israel/Occupied Palestine. For example, as I wrote in my blog post about this topic (also linked above): The cost of pinkwashing takes its toll not only from Palestinians, but also from Jewish LGBT people, as incidents of violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment  against us are discretely silenced so as to prevent injury to Israel’s “progressive” image. Thus, several acts of anti-LGBT violence in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem taking place in the past two years have been conveniently neglected by the eye of the media and from public attention, remaining unaddressed by most everyone. The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, spends more money on the pride parade and the gay tourism project than on all the city-funded LGBTQ organizations combined. This, by the way, is why the protest against pinkwashing came hand in hand with the protest against the community’s priorities. As to Palestinian queer and trans people - obviously, by painting Israel as a “gay haven” for Arabic LGBTQs, pinkwashing discourse erases the violence and oppression of Palestinian LGBTQ people in particular. As I write in my post: In fact, Palestinian LGBT’s escaping their families receive a less-than-welcoming treatment from the Israeli government. For those living in Gaza and the occupied territories, the government offers the benefit of an illegal immigrant status, imprisoning and subsequently deporting the ones caught by Israeli police and military forces. As for Palestinian LGBT’s who live within Israeli borders, the government remains indifferent to their condition and lends no resources, help, nor sanctuary for those in need of its assistance. Thus the Israeli government is free to ignore the needs of Palestinian LGBT’s seeking help, while capitalizing on Palestinian society’s alleged conservatism and LGBT-phobia for its own needs of propaganda. Needless to say, of course, even those Palestinian LGBT’s residing in Israel, accepted by their families and living a peaceful life, are still forced to face copious amounts of racism and apartheid policies in their everyday lives, including within the Jewish LGBT community.
Zoom Info
thearcanetheory: bread-party: bidyke: Today, on the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, our queer-anarchist activist group, Mashpritzot, protested against pinkwashing and the “gay” community’s priorities. The group painted themselves pink in protest against pinkwashing - the cynical use of the Israeli “gay” community in order to paint Israel as a “liberal”, “progressive” country, and divert attention from the occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians. They also carried signs protesting the “gay” community’s priorities, reading: “While you fight for gay marriage, LGBTQs are sleeping on the street”, “While you fight for the right to have children, LGBTQ youth are facing parental violence”, “One quarter of bisexuals suffer from poor health”, and more. In the middle of the Pride Parade, they spread a huge rainbow flag and fell on it, feigning death. The sign seen in the picture reads: “Here lie the victims of the community’s priorities”. For more about pinkwashing:BDS, LGBT, and Why You Should Care About PinkwashingPinkwatching Israel //Pinkwashing FAQ Unfortunately no, I got stuck behind the tea partiers, because they showed up too. I did get to see a lot about the politics going on in the Tel Aviv queer community though, lets talk about that sometime. First off, major kudos to the Israelis in the photos.  But. I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this post and the people reblogging it. Part of the issue with Pinkwashing as a term is that it ignores actual queer/LGBTQ+ issues on the ground in Israel-Palestine. You can talk about the progress made — or not made —  on that axis without demeaning or diminishing the horrific oppression of the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. It never did. It never will. And on top of that, it very often crosses the line into erasing queer Israelis and Palestinians both, and potentially renders any discussion of the subject into being some sort of ~zionist conspiracy~ At the same time, there are people who DO try to take on-the-ground progress on LGBTQ+ issues and use that to try to distract from the salient issues re: Palestine and the treatment of Palestinians. Those who do this are literally hijacking the narrative of an oppressed minority along one axis to try to force silence on a group that is oppressed along another axis - all whilst ignoring Palestinian LGBTQ+ folks. Such people are GROSS, to put it mildly. But I don’t like the term “pinkwashing” for that, because that kind of behavior is systemic for those kinds of people, and doesn’t limit itself to hijacking LGBTQ+ issues (or even indeed, to Israel-Palestine, tho that isn’t relevant to this incident.) In my mind, it makes more sense to target and tackle the problemmatic behavior in question, rather than only addressing it when it is situated in a very specific immediate context - especially when the current term helps contribute to the erasure of queer Israelis and Palestinians. Also, I’m wary/worried of these protesters being tokenized as “the Good Jews,” which is urgh. Respectfully, I disagree. Pinkwashing, and not the criticism of pinkwashing, is what erases both Jewish and Palestinian queers. By focusing solely on the rights given to privileged, middle-class Jewish cisgender gay and lesbian (but not bi and trans) people, pinkwashing discourse is erasing the very real problems, oppression and needs of queer and trans people in Israel/Occupied Palestine. For example, as I wrote in my blog post about this topic (also linked above): The cost of pinkwashing takes its toll not only from Palestinians, but also from Jewish LGBT people, as incidents of violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment  against us are discretely silenced so as to prevent injury to Israel’s “progressive” image. Thus, several acts of anti-LGBT violence in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem taking place in the past two years have been conveniently neglected by the eye of the media and from public attention, remaining unaddressed by most everyone. The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, spends more money on the pride parade and the gay tourism project than on all the city-funded LGBTQ organizations combined. This, by the way, is why the protest against pinkwashing came hand in hand with the protest against the community’s priorities. As to Palestinian queer and trans people - obviously, by painting Israel as a “gay haven” for Arabic LGBTQs, pinkwashing discourse erases the violence and oppression of Palestinian LGBTQ people in particular. As I write in my post: In fact, Palestinian LGBT’s escaping their families receive a less-than-welcoming treatment from the Israeli government. For those living in Gaza and the occupied territories, the government offers the benefit of an illegal immigrant status, imprisoning and subsequently deporting the ones caught by Israeli police and military forces. As for Palestinian LGBT’s who live within Israeli borders, the government remains indifferent to their condition and lends no resources, help, nor sanctuary for those in need of its assistance. Thus the Israeli government is free to ignore the needs of Palestinian LGBT’s seeking help, while capitalizing on Palestinian society’s alleged conservatism and LGBT-phobia for its own needs of propaganda. Needless to say, of course, even those Palestinian LGBT’s residing in Israel, accepted by their families and living a peaceful life, are still forced to face copious amounts of racism and apartheid policies in their everyday lives, including within the Jewish LGBT community.
Zoom Info
thearcanetheory: bread-party: bidyke: Today, on the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, our queer-anarchist activist group, Mashpritzot, protested against pinkwashing and the “gay” community’s priorities. The group painted themselves pink in protest against pinkwashing - the cynical use of the Israeli “gay” community in order to paint Israel as a “liberal”, “progressive” country, and divert attention from the occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians. They also carried signs protesting the “gay” community’s priorities, reading: “While you fight for gay marriage, LGBTQs are sleeping on the street”, “While you fight for the right to have children, LGBTQ youth are facing parental violence”, “One quarter of bisexuals suffer from poor health”, and more. In the middle of the Pride Parade, they spread a huge rainbow flag and fell on it, feigning death. The sign seen in the picture reads: “Here lie the victims of the community’s priorities”. For more about pinkwashing:BDS, LGBT, and Why You Should Care About PinkwashingPinkwatching Israel //Pinkwashing FAQ Unfortunately no, I got stuck behind the tea partiers, because they showed up too. I did get to see a lot about the politics going on in the Tel Aviv queer community though, lets talk about that sometime. First off, major kudos to the Israelis in the photos.  But. I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this post and the people reblogging it. Part of the issue with Pinkwashing as a term is that it ignores actual queer/LGBTQ+ issues on the ground in Israel-Palestine. You can talk about the progress made — or not made —  on that axis without demeaning or diminishing the horrific oppression of the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. It never did. It never will. And on top of that, it very often crosses the line into erasing queer Israelis and Palestinians both, and potentially renders any discussion of the subject into being some sort of ~zionist conspiracy~ At the same time, there are people who DO try to take on-the-ground progress on LGBTQ+ issues and use that to try to distract from the salient issues re: Palestine and the treatment of Palestinians. Those who do this are literally hijacking the narrative of an oppressed minority along one axis to try to force silence on a group that is oppressed along another axis - all whilst ignoring Palestinian LGBTQ+ folks. Such people are GROSS, to put it mildly. But I don’t like the term “pinkwashing” for that, because that kind of behavior is systemic for those kinds of people, and doesn’t limit itself to hijacking LGBTQ+ issues (or even indeed, to Israel-Palestine, tho that isn’t relevant to this incident.) In my mind, it makes more sense to target and tackle the problemmatic behavior in question, rather than only addressing it when it is situated in a very specific immediate context - especially when the current term helps contribute to the erasure of queer Israelis and Palestinians. Also, I’m wary/worried of these protesters being tokenized as “the Good Jews,” which is urgh. Respectfully, I disagree. Pinkwashing, and not the criticism of pinkwashing, is what erases both Jewish and Palestinian queers. By focusing solely on the rights given to privileged, middle-class Jewish cisgender gay and lesbian (but not bi and trans) people, pinkwashing discourse is erasing the very real problems, oppression and needs of queer and trans people in Israel/Occupied Palestine. For example, as I wrote in my blog post about this topic (also linked above): The cost of pinkwashing takes its toll not only from Palestinians, but also from Jewish LGBT people, as incidents of violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment  against us are discretely silenced so as to prevent injury to Israel’s “progressive” image. Thus, several acts of anti-LGBT violence in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem taking place in the past two years have been conveniently neglected by the eye of the media and from public attention, remaining unaddressed by most everyone. The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, spends more money on the pride parade and the gay tourism project than on all the city-funded LGBTQ organizations combined. This, by the way, is why the protest against pinkwashing came hand in hand with the protest against the community’s priorities. As to Palestinian queer and trans people - obviously, by painting Israel as a “gay haven” for Arabic LGBTQs, pinkwashing discourse erases the violence and oppression of Palestinian LGBTQ people in particular. As I write in my post: In fact, Palestinian LGBT’s escaping their families receive a less-than-welcoming treatment from the Israeli government. For those living in Gaza and the occupied territories, the government offers the benefit of an illegal immigrant status, imprisoning and subsequently deporting the ones caught by Israeli police and military forces. As for Palestinian LGBT’s who live within Israeli borders, the government remains indifferent to their condition and lends no resources, help, nor sanctuary for those in need of its assistance. Thus the Israeli government is free to ignore the needs of Palestinian LGBT’s seeking help, while capitalizing on Palestinian society’s alleged conservatism and LGBT-phobia for its own needs of propaganda. Needless to say, of course, even those Palestinian LGBT’s residing in Israel, accepted by their families and living a peaceful life, are still forced to face copious amounts of racism and apartheid policies in their everyday lives, including within the Jewish LGBT community.
Zoom Info

thearcanetheory:

bread-party:

bidyke:

Today, on the Tel Aviv Pride Parade, our queer-anarchist activist group, Mashpritzot, protested against pinkwashing and the “gay” community’s priorities. The group painted themselves pink in protest against pinkwashing - the cynical use of the Israeli “gay” community in order to paint Israel as a “liberal”, “progressive” country, and divert attention from the occupation and apartheid against the Palestinians.

They also carried signs protesting the “gay” community’s priorities, reading: “While you fight for gay marriage, LGBTQs are sleeping on the street”, “While you fight for the right to have children, LGBTQ youth are facing parental violence”, “One quarter of bisexuals suffer from poor health”, and more.

In the middle of the Pride Parade, they spread a huge rainbow flag and fell on it, feigning death. The sign seen in the picture reads: “Here lie the victims of the community’s priorities”.

For more about pinkwashing:
BDS, LGBT, and Why You Should Care About Pinkwashing
Pinkwatching Israel //Pinkwashing FAQ

Unfortunately no, I got stuck behind the tea partiers, because they showed up too. I did get to see a lot about the politics going on in the Tel Aviv queer community though, lets talk about that sometime.

First off, major kudos to the Israelis in the photos. 

But. I have a LOT of mixed feelings about this post and the people reblogging it.

Part of the issue with Pinkwashing as a term is that it ignores actual queer/LGBTQ+ issues on the ground in Israel-Palestine. You can talk about the progress made — or not made —  on that axis without demeaning or diminishing the horrific oppression of the Palestinians. One does not exclude the other. It never did. It never will. And on top of that, it very often crosses the line into erasing queer Israelis and Palestinians both, and potentially renders any discussion of the subject into being some sort of ~zionist conspiracy~

At the same time, there are people who DO try to take on-the-ground progress on LGBTQ+ issues and use that to try to distract from the salient issues re: Palestine and the treatment of Palestinians. Those who do this are literally hijacking the narrative of an oppressed minority along one axis to try to force silence on a group that is oppressed along another axis - all whilst ignoring Palestinian LGBTQ+ folks. Such people are GROSS, to put it mildly. But I don’t like the term “pinkwashing” for that, because that kind of behavior is systemic for those kinds of people, and doesn’t limit itself to hijacking LGBTQ+ issues (or even indeed, to Israel-Palestine, tho that isn’t relevant to this incident.) In my mind, it makes more sense to target and tackle the problemmatic behavior in question, rather than only addressing it when it is situated in a very specific immediate context - especially when the current term helps contribute to the erasure of queer Israelis and Palestinians.

Also, I’m wary/worried of these protesters being tokenized as “the Good Jews,” which is urgh.

Respectfully, I disagree. Pinkwashing, and not the criticism of pinkwashing, is what erases both Jewish and Palestinian queers. By focusing solely on the rights given to privileged, middle-class Jewish cisgender gay and lesbian (but not bi and trans) people, pinkwashing discourse is erasing the very real problems, oppression and needs of queer and trans people in Israel/Occupied Palestine. For example, as I wrote in my blog post about this topic (also linked above):

The cost of pinkwashing takes its toll not only from Palestinians, but also from Jewish LGBT people, as incidents of violence, discrimination, harassment and mistreatment  against us are discretely silenced so as to prevent injury to Israel’s “progressive” image. Thus, several acts of anti-LGBT violence in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem taking place in the past two years have been conveniently neglected by the eye of the media and from public attention, remaining unaddressed by most everyone.

The Tel Aviv municipality, for example, spends more money on the pride parade and the gay tourism project than on all the city-funded LGBTQ organizations combined. This, by the way, is why the protest against pinkwashing came hand in hand with the protest against the community’s priorities.

As to Palestinian queer and trans people - obviously, by painting Israel as a “gay haven” for Arabic LGBTQs, pinkwashing discourse erases the violence and oppression of Palestinian LGBTQ people in particular. As I write in my post:

In fact, Palestinian LGBT’s escaping their families receive a less-than-welcoming treatment from the Israeli government. For those living in Gaza and the occupied territories, the government offers the benefit of an illegal immigrant status, imprisoning and subsequently deporting the ones caught by Israeli police and military forces. As for Palestinian LGBT’s who live within Israeli borders, the government remains indifferent to their condition and lends no resources, help, nor sanctuary for those in need of its assistance. Thus the Israeli government is free to ignore the needs of Palestinian LGBT’s seeking help, while capitalizing on Palestinian society’s alleged conservatism and LGBT-phobia for its own needs of propaganda. Needless to say, of course, even those Palestinian LGBT’s residing in Israel, accepted by their families and living a peaceful life, are still forced to face copious amounts of racism and apartheid policies in their everyday lives, including within the Jewish LGBT community.

Source: bidyke

[Image: Dark blue/purple grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 5.5 are colored pink, and 8 very light pink. Third line text (large): “55% of bisexual people are not out at work”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 8% of gay men and 6% of lesbians report not being out at work.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”] This is the sixth in a series of infographics. Sexual violence Suicidality Bullying Physical health Post-traumatic stress disorder Source: Bisexuality and Identity: The Double-Edged Sword: Stonewall Research into Bisexual Experience
Pop-upView Separately

[Image: Dark blue/purple grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 5.5 are colored pink, and 8 very light pink. Third line text (large): “55% of bisexual people are not out at work”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 8% of gay men and 6% of lesbians report not being out at work.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”]

This is the sixth in a series of infographics.

Source: Bisexuality and Identity: The Double-Edged Sword: Stonewall Research into Bisexual Experience

15 movies with bi characters or themes

In bisexual communities, we often talk about the lack of bisexual representations in books, TV and movies. While there’s much to say about bisexual erasure from culture and the media, I think there’s also a lot of value to reading texts bisexually - finding a glimpse or an aspect to embrace, a loose thread that we can pull and unwind, and perhaps creating our own yarn, our own story. Maybe the characters and the stories we read were not intended to be bisexual, perhaps they were but were represented negatively, perhaps bisexuality isn’t even a part of the plot but can still be detected underneath, in the subtext.

Whichever way we look at it, finding these texts and thinking about them can be amazingly helpful for us. We can choose to see our own reflections there, and see that we are not truly isolated or eradicated (as so many of us feel). We can feel validated, we can see that we exist, and we can use these stories and characters to say things about ourselves - to reclaim our erased existence, to critique representations, and to create yet another way to speak about our experiences using our own words.

Between the years 2008-2011 I ran a bisexual film club by the name of B-Movies. Each meeting we showed a film with a bisexual theme, or a character that could be read as bisexual. Before the movie, we would have a 20-minute lecture attempting to expose the bisexual story, to put a bisexual lens to the text.

Here is a list of some of the movies we showed in the club (in no particular order). I hope they could be a useful resource for anyone looking for movies with bisexual themes, or that allow bisexual readings. Click the images for IMDB. [Note: the image links don’t seem to work on Tumblr. Click through to WordPress for working links]

IMPORTANT: Please be aware that most of these movies are politically problematic in some ways, and that some might contain triggering content. Please read the IMDB information before watching, and make sure you only watch triggering content if you feel you are able to handle it, and in a time and place where you feel safe.

Shortbus // John Cameron Mitchell // 2006

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Henry and June // Philip Kaufman // 1990

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Kinsey // Bill Condon // 2004

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The Rocky Horror Picture Show // Jim Sharman // 1975

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Hedwig and the Angry Inch // John Cameron Mitchell // 2001

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Velvet Goldmine // Todd Haynes // 1998

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Bedrooms and Hallways // Rose Troche // 1998

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Rent // Chris Columbus // 2005

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Cabaret // Bob Fosse // 1972

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Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds // Philip J. Bartell // 2006

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Interview With the Vampire // Neil Jordan // 1994

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Stage Beauty // Richard Eyre // 2004

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Brokeback Mountain // Ang Lee // 2005

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Chasing Amy // Kevin Smith // 1997

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The Pillow Book // Peter Greenway // 1996

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[Image: Dark red grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 2.5 are colored orange, and 8 peach. Third line text (large): “1 in 4 bisexual people (24%) suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 14.6% of straight people and 17.7% of gay people suffer from PTSD.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”] This is the fifth in a series of infographics. Sexual violence Suicidality Bullying Physical health Source: PTSD and Sexual Orientation: An Examination of Criterion A1 and Non-criterion A1 Events
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[Image: Dark red grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 2.5 are colored orange, and 8 peach. Third line text (large): “1 in 4 bisexual people (24%) suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 14.6% of straight people and 17.7% of gay people suffer from PTSD.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”]

This is the fifth in a series of infographics.


Source: PTSD and Sexual Orientation: An Examination of Criterion A1 and Non-criterion A1 Events

Open Call for establishing an international Trans* organisation

We, Trans* activists, Genderqueers, Queers and LGBTQIA people are working locally for the trans* community against discrimination and violence associated with trans*phobia and against the institutional oppression of trans* people.

We act because we want to put an end to trans*phobia and all its manifestations, To allow people to choose their own gender without the interference of the institutes, To allow people to go through physical alterations they are interested in without going through walls of bureaucracy and to fight against any legal and institutional violence that is being used against us and against our friends.

So far we have worked alone and on a local scale, this is our chance to join forces.

This is a call for Trans*, Genderqueer and LGBTQIA activists from all over to join us!

Write us about the struggles you encounter with the law, about your actions and about the goals you think we should work for.

Together we could act by organizing demonstrations in front of embassies, by arranging platforms for public diplomacy, by collaborating different organizations in media and in other ways that we will decide on together, until we eradicate institutional trans*phobia.

We believe that international collaborations can bring results that on local scale takes more time and effort to reach.

Together we have the power to do it!

#If you read this message and you can translate it to your language, we will highly appreciate this.

Click to join!

[Image: Dark gold-yellow grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 2 are colored red, and 8 pink. Third line text (large): “22% of bisexual people suffer from poor health”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 9.7% of straight people and 9.8% of gay people report having poor health.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”] This is the fourth in a series of infographics. Sexual violence Suicidality Bullying For more details: Survey: Bisexual women in poorest health Source: A Population-Based Study of Sexual Orientation Identity and Gender Differences in Adult Health
Pop-upView Separately

[Image: Dark gold-yellow grunge background. First line text: “Did you know?”. Second line image: 10 people symbols/silhouettes, of which 2 are colored red, and 8 pink. Third line text (large): “22% of bisexual people suffer from poor health”. Fourth line, smaller text: “By contrast, 9.7% of straight people and 9.8% of gay people report having poor health.” Fifth line: “STOP biphobia and monosexism!”]

This is the fourth in a series of infographics.


For more details: Survey: Bisexual women in poorest health

Source: A Population-Based Study of Sexual Orientation Identity and Gender Differences in Adult Health

Queers for divorce flier, by me and my friend DanVeg. This is a translation of the original flier in Hebrew that we made for our radical queer group Mashprizot. For more about this topic: Fuck marriage, fuck equality Against equality - marriage (this contains many links)
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Queers for divorce flier, by me and my friend DanVeg. This is a translation of the original flier in Hebrew that we made for our radical queer group Mashprizot.

For more about this topic:

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