*How many compromises can queer people make in order to build powerful alliances?*
... ... Still, there are times when we encounter racism within queer communities, and homophobia within racial and religious communities. So the question then emerges, how do any of us negotiate this issue? Again, let us remember that queers of color negotiate this all the time, and that those negotiations are the best examples we have of how to go about trying to connect these issues, and forge a coalition that is anti-homopobia and anti-racist. I think acting in coalitions means finding a way to struggle with other groups where some disagreements and antagonisms remain in play. I am not sure all disagreements need to be solved before we agree to enter a coalition. Some of us are “coalitional subjects” without any choice, and other times we work with people with whom we disagree because certain notions of political equality and justice bring us together. My view is that a coalition has to know what its political aims are, but also how to live with certain antagonisms that are not resolved easily or quickly. A certain patience is needed, And sometimes it is only after people have worked with one another that those antagonisms become less defining or important. *A few years ago you said that the hamas and hizbollah would be progressive social movements. Do you still have that opinion?* I never said that. I was asked whether, as a matter of description, Hamas and Hezbollah are part of the global left. I said I thought (a) that they are left movements and that (b) like all left movements, there are some that I support and there are some that I do not. I was simply describing where they are on the continuum of positions, but I never called them progressive social movements and I never voiced any support for them. *How do you reconcile their islamistic thinking that includes homophobic and patriachal as well as militaristic thinking with your queer theory?* Since there seems to be a misunderstanding about my position, I think this question is mistaken. I do not seek to reconcile such movements. My only concern is to underscore the importance of not engaging in islamophobic thinking and acting. Islam is a complex and important set of religious and moral positions that can in no way be reduced to the political parties that claim to be representing Islam at the present moment. My sense is that we need to think clearly and study carefully these traditions and political organizations. Let us also be clear that there are several muslim queer organizations, and that those organizations are very rarely represented in the mainstream public discourse on queer politics. Afthab Ellath On Fri, Jul 9, 2010 at 9:09 PM, Afthab Ellath <[email protected]> wrote: > *Would you say that queer people are more obligated to get politically > involved than others because they`re being discriminated against in every > day life?* > > I would say that they are no more and no less obligated than others. > Perhaps there is a common obligation to protect the rights of minorities, > and this means not only to protect that rights of those minority categories > to which I belong, but to all minorities who suffer disenfranchisement. > I believe this obligation should be honored by those in the majority as > well. Let us remember that some of us are majority in some respects and > minority in others, and that an obligation to equality does not emerge from > a minority status or from a majority status, but from some abiding political > commitment to democracy. > > http://www.transnational-queer-underground.net/?p=547 > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
