On the DNC & Palestine
“Statement from Gender Liberation Movement on the 2024 Democratic National Convention and Palestinian Liberation”
This week as thousands gather for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to nominate Kamala Harris as an official presidential nominee, Gender Liberation Movement expresses solidarity with the Uncommitted Movement and organizers’ efforts to demand dignity for Palestinian lives.
There is no gender liberation without Palestinian liberation. Period. The ongoing genocide in Gaza – being carried out by Israel and aided by the United States – has taken nearly 40,000 lives, including those of over 15,000 children. In a recent Lancet article, public health experts have suggested a death toll over 180,000, which accounts to victims left under rubble and failed by degraded healthcare infrastructures.
As we mourn the Palestinian lives lost and demand safety and security for those still in the eye of this storm, let’s consider the role of gender in this genocide. Since October 7, there has been a 300 percent increase in miscarriages while nearly 50,000 pregnant people lack essential prenatal and post-natal care like access to anesthesia during childbirth. Additionally, there have been devastating shortages of food, clean water, and medical supplies. And Israel’s relentless bombing has completely destroyed two out of three homes.
At the same time, governments and organizations have continued to use pinkwashing, a strategy to weaponize the LGBTQIA+ struggle to deflect and justify human rights abuses and war crimes. They have made it a part of their mission to erase queer and trans Palestinians. In this regard, we urge LGBTQIA+ leaders and organizations to demand an end to this and all other genocides plaguing the queer diaspora.
Gender Liberation Movement demands that no one gets left behind, including our Palestinian siblings. We all deserve bodily autonomy and self-determination. Our collective joins the demands for a permanent ceasefire, an immediate embargo of U.S. arms to Israel, and an end to the decades-long occupation and apartheid.
Let us say clearly: NOBODY IS FREE UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE.
We urge you to sign the Uncommitted National Movement’s petition demanding that Vce President Kamala Harris and Democratic leadership agree to #NotAnotherBomb at bit.ly/nabpetition.
If you are a warrior for gender liberation, join the Gender Liberation Movement. We believe in a world where everyone has the power to defy and transcend the gendered expectations that harm and limit us all. We will host the first-ever Gender Liberation March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, September 14, 2024. Sign-up today.
ENDORSE the Gender Liberation March.
PROMOTE the march by sharing on social media.
ENCOURAGE friends and colleagues to register for the march.
DONATE to support the GLM mission.
ORGANIZE a bus for activists traveling to DC on September 14th.
INQUIRE at genderlib4all@gmail.com. Organizers are available for interviews.
BACKGROUND:
Founded in the spring of 2023, GLM was birthed by organizers from the successful Brooklyn Liberation Marches of 2020 and 2021 and the Women’s Marches that began in the wake of the 2016 elections. Our core organizers found an ineffective divide between feminist and reproductive justice organizing (primarily centering abortion access) in the aftermath of the Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, and queer and trans organizing (primarily defending the community against the years-long ramp-up restrictions for trans students playing sports, access to gender-affirming care, and LGBTQ+ curricula and book bans).
