Love Without Borders

Monday June 19th at 11am

The LGBT World Pride event titled "Love Without Borders" is scheduled to occur August 6 - 12 in Jerusalem. Hosted by Jerusalem Open House, West Jerusalem's LGBT community center, the event is being widely hailed as a significantly progressive milestone in gay liberation, and gay people from around the world are expected to visit Israel for the march and other activities.

But there is widespread disagreement about the political appropriateness of holding a world pride event in Israel in the present time of war between Israel and Palestine. Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, or QUIT - the accomplished anti-occupation direct action group from San Francisco - has called for a boycott of the events and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has also issued a statement of non-participation. (Click HERE to listen.)

In response to this very important example of the difficulties and challenges we face at the intersections of LGBT liberation with other freedom struggles around the world, Out-FM's Brad Taylor has organized a timely and provocative panel discussion on the topic of World Pride: Participation or Boycott? This examination of our LGBT communities' responses to war and occupation will take place here on Out-FM next week in our regular time slot at 11:00.

The forum will be an hour-long panel discussion with Hagai El-Ad, the director of Jerusalem Open House, Rauda Morcos or another representative of Aswat, the Palestininan lesbian organization from Haifa, Israel, Farris Wahbeh, the respected Palestinian-American film curator and critic and Rev. Pat Bumgardner of Manhattan Metropolitan Community Church. Toward the end of the discussion, there will be time for listener calls and we expect a lively and trenchant dialogue about the roles queer people play in furthering justice and liberation around the world. Join us next Monday the 19th at 11:00 on Out-FM from Pacifica Radio's WBAI at 99.5 FM or log on to wbai.org for this important conversation.