Yasser Arafat Threw the First Brick at Stonewall

The LGBT community's antisemitism isn’t really about the Jews—it’s a symptom of an intellectual epidemic plaguing the new left where narratives have replaced truth and reality has become irrelevant.

On October 7th, 2023, world Jewry held our breath as our enemies carried out the deadliest massacre of Jews in a pogrom, the likes of which we no longer thought possible. Grown men went from house to house, mercilessly slaughtering, torturing, raping, and mutilating Israelis. 1200 people were butchered, and 250 were taken hostage (125 remain to this day).

The progressive response to this horrific massacre led many to believe that the LGBTQ community has an antisemitism problem – and it does, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Jew hatred often reveals more about the societies that allow it to flourish than it does about Jews. It also rarely presents as a standalone issue; instead, it is often symptomatic of a society on the brink of catastrophe. Whether it was the Crusaders, Islamic conquests, medieval Europe, the Soviet Union, or Nazi Germany, history shows that where Jew hate thrives, shit is about to hit the fan, and now is no different.

So, yes. The LGBT community does have an antisemitism problem, but it isn’t really about the Jews. It's a symptom of a much larger issue: an intellectual epidemic plaguing the new left where narratives have replaced truth and reality has become irrelevant. Ergo, the ability to - even in the face of undeniable evidence - shamelessly deny that Hamas fighters employed rape, mutilation, and decapitations on October 7th. So, how did we get here?

In the early 2020s, conservatives became captivated by a manufactured moral panic about the gays coming for their kids (or what I like to call the Libsoftiktok effect). This led to a resurgence of tropes stereotyping members of the LGBTQ+ community as predators, groomers, and child molesters–the absolute worst our society has to offer. Suffice it to say I became quite protective over the LGBTQ+ community and even found myself somewhat militant in my thinking. In mid-2023, my unwavering support started to crack. 

Last June, I came across a tweet from the ACLU, which condemned the state of Florida for its treatment of convicted rapist and murderer Duane Owen.

The state of Florida never provided medically necessary gender-affirming care to Duane Owen — causing her enormous suffering and violating her right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment for the more than 30 years she was in state custody.

In May 1984, Owen stabbed and raped 14-year-old Karen Slattery to death. Two months later, he raped and murdered Georgianna Worden, a single mother whose death left her daughters orphaned; they were 9 and 11 years old.

Owen claimed that his gender dysphoria was a delusion caused by schizophrenia, a condition that he did not have. The ACLU knew that Owen did not seek treatment for gender dysphoria during his 30-year prison sentence, and this was very clearly a tactic to stay his execution. But if he says he’s trans, who are they to deny him his identity? 

Duane Owen

A few months later, another progressive group -  Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) honored Douglas Powell, a level II sex offender who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old child in 2008. As part of the VOCAL-NY contingent, Powell accepted an award at JFREJ’s annual fundraiser, The Mazals. Shockingly, JFREJ encouraged their members to bring their young children by advertising that childcare would be available on-site. JFREJ praised the event as a success; specifying that The Mazals was “one big, delicious, queer, Jewish rent party.”

Sympathizing with pedophiles, it seemed, was essential to abolition theory, a cause that, although entirely idiotic, all well-behaved LGBTQ people are expected to subscribe to. Yes, of course, society can function without prisons! Don’t worry about walking amongst murderers and rapists – because if we give them adequate access to mental health care, they will not rape or murder anybody!  The naivety required for this is remarkably similar to those who believe in a secular democratic Palestine where freedom of speech thrives, gays are revered, and women are equal citizens. 

Now, I’ll address your burning question: if Hamas treats LGBT people so brutally, why do we so fervently and overwhelmingly support them?

Before October 7, I would have responded that the “Queers for Hamas’’ notion was outrage porn, an absurd smear, a stereotype based on a 2018 viral photo from the University of Sydney.

Ask me the same question today and I will tell you that your inquiry is moot. See, the very premise of this question overestimates the extent to which LGBT people are willing to engage in self-preservation. The underlying assumption is that we are rational actors who, if adequately informed, would act in our own interest. This is not the case.

We are informed. We know exactly what would happen to us in Gaza, but there are larger issues at play. Lest our quest for justice interfere with virtue signaling; this is true even for the most outspoken activists. Take the following quotes from Matt Bernstein’s Pinkwashing video, for example:

“As a white American gay person…I have been that person reading the list of countries where homosexuality is criminalized and subconsciously letting that justify my own internalized racism…” 

“I think a lot of times we get caught up in trying to judge different nations and different views on gay rights by a western standard …like in the west we view the pinnacle of gay rights as having achieved gay marriage but that’s not what it means in a lot of places”

To be clear, these are the words of one of the most well-known advocacy influencers in the LGBTQ community. So imagine my surprise when Bernstein — who spent the last four years vehemently denouncing the religious right’s attempts to erode LGBTQ rights — was excusing religiously motivated homophobia. The activist who once proudly proclaimed “religion is fine as long as you don’t use it to tell anyone else how to live” was now adamant that harboring contempt for governments that criminalize queer people is a form of racism. Bernstein, who purported that the US’ approach to LGBT rights was “barbaric,” was happy to downplay the state of LGBT rights in Gaza, simply noting that it does “not currently hold pride events.” The message is clear: “rights for me, but not for thee.” 

His claim that Westerners view marriage as the “pinnacle of LGBT rights” is a historical falsehood. From its inception, the LGBT rights movement has advocated for equal rights across the board, not just for white Americans but for every person, wherever they may be. Every right we have fought for-marriage, adoption, privacy, legal protections, etc. — falls under the umbrella of equality because that is the ultimate goal. When someone as influential as Bernstein champions this type of allyship, it raises a fundamental question: what the fuck are we doing?

The new left has become a religion characterized by blind faith. So, in the same way that a priest does not want to hear a scientist debunk immaculate conception, western leftists are not interested in hearing that they are wrong about…anything. This thought epidemic is exacerbated by the common belief that “society has progressed past the need” to debate with people we disagree with. 

I admit, even I was one of those people who refused to engage with those I disagreed with on certain issues, particularly conservatives. A few months ago, I listened to Bari Weiss’ address to the Federalist Society, a group of conservative law students, and her words had a profound impact on my perspective of debate, allyship, and the importance of Western values, particularly for people like me. 

“I am a gay woman …I know there are some in this room who do not believe my marriage should have been legal. And that’s okay…I am here because I know that in the fight for the West, I know who my allies are…My allies are people who believe that America is good. That the West is good…America and our values are worth fighting for, and that is the priority of the day.”

Contrast that with the now apparently “liberal” idea that society has progressed past the need for women, particularly queer women, to sit down and talk about politics.

The vast majority of our community is actively engaging in self-harm. Not only do we disregard the truth, but we stifle genuine inquiry for fear of ideological retaliation. The slightest dissent or skepticism is treated as defiance, and the dissenter is labeled a traitor, analogous to blasphemy laws in the Islamic Republic.

All this is to say that this rise in Jew-hatred from the LGBT community is not actually about Jews, antisemitism, or Hamas; it is about a war on truth. We now find ourselves at a juncture where this ideological contagion is influencing our understanding of allyship.

So, TLDR; in a world of Matt Bernsteins, be Bari Weiss.