Queer and/or Arab? LGBTQ+ Palestinians post-October 7

• In Event: 21061 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 1: Political Ideologies, Action, and Movements

Abstract

Arabs in the US are at an interesting spot within the racial fabric of the country. While it has been announced that a Middle Eastern and North African option will be added to the US census in 2024, Arabs had been counted as white until that point. However, this has not been a realistic combination, especially after 9/11. Still, some groups can advantageously reposition themselves within the racial-security hierarchy in the US as they embrace identifiers other than their Arabness which Queer Palestinians have the opportunity to do. Actually, the latter find themselves navigating two identities, aspects of which are often presented in the mainstream as conflicting. This often puts pressure to embrace one over the other. Jasbir Puar presents the theory of homonationalism in the aftermath of 9/11 to best describe this phenomenon where queer folks are expected to align with the Western perception and protection of their queerness over the embrace of their cultures and nations of origin. In this paper, I aim to explore this manifestation of homonationalism for Queer Palestinians in the US, particularly as the latest war in Palestine was unfolding, using the racial theoretical lenses of settler colonialism, imperialism, the ethnic project, intersectionality and interest convergence. To do so, I will start by exploring both identities of the community in question: their Arabness as well as their queerness from a racial perspective. Then, I will look at public cases of activism to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and a free Palestine by and in allyship with the Queer Palestinian community. Through this, I will present the ways in which Queer Palestinians have been challenging this imposed separation of identities as they engage in activism for their own people.

Author

• Marc Tohme, New York University