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New Tolerance Campaign Announces $1,000,000 Palestine Gay Pride Parade Challenge
Washington, DC — The New Tolerance Campaign (@New_Tolerance) today announced the launch of a multi-city campaign offering $1,000,000 to “Queers for Palestine” or any U.S. LGBTQ advocacy organization to host a Gay Pride Parade in Gaza or the West Bank.
“This isn’t a joke. It’s not a publicity stunt. Our offer is real,” New Tolerance Campaign (NTC) President Gregory T. Angelo stated. “For the past year we’ve seen so-called ‘Queers for Palestine’ and allied LGBTQ organizations insist that the Palestinian territories are ‘inclusive’ — well, here’s their chance to prove it. We’re willing to put our money where their mouths are to underwrite a Gay Pride Parade in Gaza or the West Bank.”
NTC has secured commitments for the $1,000,000 prize which is being offered to potential Pride Parade organizers for the next six months.
NTC attempted to publicize this campaign with full-page ads in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and USA Today — but all three newspapers declined citing “unsafe” circumstances as a consequence of publication. NTC advertising of our Challenge on billboard space in Times Square in New York City was similarly declined as we were told the buildings displaying the ad could become targets for violence.
Starting today, September 16, mobile billboards will be circulating around Columbia University (116th Street and Broadway) in New York City, the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave NW) in Washington, DC, and UCLA (405 Hilgard Avenue) in Los Angeles. The mobile billboards will be running through Wednesday, with the potential for additional dates to be announced.
The campaign will also allow everyday Americans to send messages directly to the senior leadership of the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the LGBTQ Task Force, and Advocates for Trans Equality encouraging them to actually fight for LGBTQ rights rather than taking a political stance against the only gay-friendly country in the Middle East, Israel.
“This project highlights the lack of human rights for the LGBTQ community in Palestine, while noting LGBTQ people live freely in Israel. It also has the potential to be a breakthrough moment for pluralism and peace throughout the Arab world,” Angelo concluded.