THE RED SIDE OF THE LGBT MOVEMENT:
A REPORT FROM QUEER EASTER

The seventh annual Queer Easter (QE) occurred in the outskirts of Berlin, Germany this past Aptil 11-17th. The week-long seminar--hosted in cooperation between the International Union of Socialist Youth (IUSY), ECOSY and the IFM-SEI--brought together around 100 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied activists from over a dozen European countries along with a sizable delegation of Arab and Jewish comrades from Israel.

I arrived in Berlin a few days before QE hoping to explore the city and its rich leftist history. I first met up with Andi from the Falcons (aka the Socialist Youth of Germany) for a rooftop bar-b-que at the his squat-like high rise flat in the city's eastern quarters, later heading to some neighborhood bars frequented by the younger radical set. The following day Andi took me on a bike tour of Red Berlin... visiting the sites where Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht were murdered, where Liebknecht declared Germany a "free socialist republic" in 1918, the cemetery for leaders of the worker's movement, and a host of Communist statues commemorated Soviet participation in WWII and German participation in the International Brigades against fascism in Spain (obvious disclaimer: I'm no fan of the drab authoritarianism that was the GDR).

The next day I met with my friend Pierre (at right) from the French Movement of Young Socialists (MJS). After a morning stroll through Berlin the two of us headed to the the impressive Falcon retreat and education center in the country-side town of Werftpfuhl.

Although currently living in Spain, I was essentially a YDS delegate to the seminar. The daily program centered around a set of workshops, trainings and media working groups... with smoking, drinking and general gay frolicking around the edges.

I was drawn to one discussion early on that focused on the following questions: "How have the radical left and LGBT movements intersected and clashed since they emerged from 19th century Europe? How is socialism beneficial to queers & why should queer people be interested in leftish politics? What are the inequalities that might complicate this alliance?" A review of the economic reductionism and social conservatism that has pervaded strains of the socialist movement illustrated that such bonds between class politics and sexual liberation must be consciously forged as they are not automatically connected. A good historical overview of such tensions and possibilities can be found here.

I later attended a workshop that dealt with how activists in "the West" can best offer practical solidarity to sexual minorities (not "gay" men and women since some semi-convincingly argue that this is a term referring to a "Western" lifestyle construct) facing persecution in more repressive and less developed countries. This conversation predictably boiled down to a clash between cultural relativist arguments and a universalist human rights paradigm (I'm a defender of the latter, naturally). I put forward, in summary, that "our" best approach is to:

1) Clean house in our own societies and thus undermine arguments that we are hypocritical. This means not just fretting about Islam, but also the intense homophobia of the Catholic church, for instance. This can also entail creating a LGBT movement that isn't so heavily biased toward gay white men and shallow consumerism.

2) Identify civil society actors (in this case LGBT organizations and activists) within "the other" country and listen to what they are demanding and what support they ask for. Instructive counter example: the case of the how the U.S. pressuring the Egyptian regime for its mass arrest of homosexual men only increased the repression (guilt by association with "imperialism").

3) Offer resources, space, trainings, etc. for activists within target countries... and by extension, celebrate their immense courage. Queer Easter is a good example of this as many of our LGBT comrades from Eastern Europe face a rather harsh social climate and political barriers to equality.

4) Uphold a multilateral human rights framework. Such a rules-based set of international agreements should have the power to sanction even those bigoted practices that are defended on cultural or religious grounds. One important advance in the field is the EU directive that member countries must include persecution based on sexual orientation as potential grounds for asylum status.

Moving on... (you can see a summary of other workshops and trainings here)

Apart from the important political discussions, QE primarily offers a social space for LGBT activists. For many attendees the seminar is the first occasion where their sexuality is normalized (you basically have to "come out" if you one of the few straight participants). This social function is important in itself, even if an emphasis on politics waned in relation.

As part of my formal contribution to QE's political agenda, I was asked to draft a statement "For Action Against Homophobia / The Right to Assembly" that we hope to pass through IUSY. I also worked on the preparations for the Queer Tent at the IUSY World Festival (July 18-23, Alicante, Spain).

There are many more stories I could tell (some of them rather scandalous!) but in closing I'd say that aside from seeing amazing friends and making news ones, I most enjoyed talking with participants about their organizing experiences, about the political realities in their countries, and about the shared principles of liberty, solidarity and equality that inform our day-to-day commitments. I would also like to point people to the incredibly impressive organizations that QE participants work with that focus on building a culture and movement that embody these emancipatory goals. You can see links to all the participating organizations here, but I want to highlight those that start working with children as young as 6. The Falcons are one fine example... and so is the Federation of Young Students and Workers - Israel's largest youth organization. Can you imagine how cool it would be in we had our own socialist Boy and Girl Scouts in the U.S.?

Postscript: Immediately after coming back to Spain, I started to prepare for an international conference we organized at my social center on migration, citizenship and globalization. The event was fantastic (covering what I think is one of the 3 most critical arenas of struggle for the Left in the EU)... but it means I've been in exhaustive conference mode for a few weeks straight. Spent this past Sunday selling books on the Ramblas in downtown Barcelona with friends from the Gay Liberation Front as part of St. Jordi Day, where millions of people flock to the streets to buy books and roses for their loved ones. Great tradition.

Off to "gay Paris" tomorrow for to see friends and attend May Day demonstrations!