INTRODUCTION
"Nothing Comes Clean with Pinkwashing," 2012.
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA) was a Toronto-based group, active from 2008 to 2015. The group formed following Israeli Apartheid Week, held at The University of Toronto in 2008. QuAIA was formed around conversations on pinkwashing. Pinkwashing is when a group claims allyship of the LGBTQ+ community– but does little to support the lives of Queer individuals, or even actively works against them. In the case of pinkwashing in Israel, Israel is often marketed as a LGBTQ+ tourist destination, and uses this to justify the occupation of Palestine. Yet the lives of Queer Palestinians living in Gaza or the West Bank are still subject to violence by the Israeli state. QuAIA also supported the idea that Queer liberation was not opposite to Palestinian liberation– but rather intrinsically linked.
QuAIA quickly became an active and visible participant at demonstrations in the city, including marching in the Toronto Pride parade. Their participation in the parade became the subject of media attention and campaigns by Israeli lobby groups, who contested their use of the term “Israeli Apartheid.” The City of Toronto and corporate sponsors threatened to pull funding from the parade if QuAIA was not banned, claiming political messaging had no place at Pride.
The above video, produced by Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA), describes the groups beliefs, and details efforts by lobby groups to have them removed from the parade. The video was released shortly after Pride 2011, the year in which the group chose to organize their own pride event given Toronto Pride’s rejection the previous year. The video is titled QuAIA definition, since the group’s use of the term Israeli Apartheid had been the biggest source of contention for both the City of Toronto and Toronto Pride. In defining their beliefs and membership, QuAIA counters narratives that attempted to present them as anti-Queer and antisemitic. The video is presented through the voice of QuAIA’s members and supporters. The group’s membership included Queer, Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish individuals. Some members even played a role in organizing the early Pride events in Toronto’s history.
The attempts to ban Queers Against Israeli Apartheid from the Toronto Pride parade were acts of censorship, and demonstrated that Pride Toronto has become disconnected from its origins in the gay liberation movement. Since QuAIA, many other groups have also faced scrutiny for participating in acts of protest at Pride. This project exhibits materials that chronicle the resilience of QuAIA, in the face of their rejection by Pride Toronto.
I would like to thank the ArQuives’ Executive Director, Raegan Swanson, for the opportunity to work on this project, and for their constant support throughout the process. I would also like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the Project Archivist, Roxy Moon, who processed the fonds and assisted me in scanning the materials comprising this exhibition.