The following remarks were made by Bronx Anti-War Coalition trans activist Brandon Gonzalez at “The People’s Pride March Against Pink Washing, Gentrification and Genocide: Queer Solidarity with Palestine,” in Bronx, New York, June 22, 2024. Contact [email protected].

Pride as we know it historically as a riot must translate into the current climate. We cannot celebrate in the face of racist police violence, anti-trans legislation and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. There is no pride in genocide. 

As anti-imperialist Bronxites, we reject the bourgeois co-optation of queer revolt, the Zionist attempt of pinkwashing the genocide in Gaza and the consistent pushing out of Bronxites by capitalist real estate developers. 

The inability of our trans siblings to afford the health care necessary for gender reaffirming care while those in the Zionist entity are allotted free health care with our tax dollars is why we must denounce pinkwashing. 

The over 500 anti-queer and anti-trans laws being proposed or passed in over 40 states, while Pride parades are marching with the same Zionist-aligned politicians, weapons manufacturers, banks and imperialist NGOs that contribute to the strangling of queer life abroad, is why we say “No to pinkwashing!” 

LGBTQ+ rights will NOT be used as a cover for genocide in Palestine or imperialist aggression against nations like Haiti, Cuba and beyond. Queer and trans people will not be used to beat the drums of war and genocide anywhere on the globe. 

The struggle never began with representation and assimilation into the colonial/capitalist system. Our struggle is for the liberation of all peoples from the grasp of the U.S. Empire. 

Same struggle, same fight, Gaza and the Bronx unite! 

This talk was lightly edited.