FIRST ON FOX – A watchdog group that aims to expose hypocrisy announced Monday that it would donate $1 million to "Queers for Palestine" or any U.S. LGBTQ advocacy organization to host a gay pride parade in Gaza or the West Bank.
Anti-Israel groups such as "Queers for Palestine" have surfaced across America since the Hamas terror group attacked Israel on October 6, but homosexuality remains deeply taboo in the Palestinian territories. Gay and transgender people in Gaza and the West Bank face a significant level of persecution and are often subjected to horrific acts.
New Tolerance Campaign (NTC) President Gregory T. Angelo, who is gay and the former president of Log Cabin Republicans, said the campaign is a "wake-up call" to anyone who identifies as part of the "Queers for Palestine" or "Gays for Gaza" movements.
"I don't want people to just shrug off this campaign as some kind of publicity stunt or something that is supposed to be comical. It actually is a legitimate offer," Angelo told Fox News Digital.
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"This campaign emerged to call out these purported advocates of LGBT equality and put our money where their mouths are," he continued. "I think that this is a real opportunity for these groups to legitimately step up and host an event that would either highlight the fact that the Palestinian territories are not indeed a good place for LGBTQ individuals to be living, or it could be a breakthrough moment for pluralism and peace in the Middle East."
The New Tolerance Campaign said it secured commitments for the $1 million prize and will begin publicizing the offer with mobile billboards circulating around Columbia University in New York City, the headquarters of the Human Rights Campaign in Washington, D.C. and UCLA in Los Angeles.
"Obviously, the $1 million prize is something that is flashy. It was designed to get attention; it was designed to turn heads. But the greater drive behind this project is one of equality and broad human rights," Angelo said.
The campaign will also allow everyday Americans to send messages directly to the senior leadership of the Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the LGBTQ Task Force, and Advocates for Trans Equality encouraging them to fight for LGBTQ rights in Palestinian territories and Arab countries.
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"On the left in the United States, all oppression is the same oppression. And I think the left, quite to their disservice, lumps everything from racial discrimination to sexual orientation discrimination to gender discrimination to Islamophobia, all under the same umbrella. That’s certainly not the case," Angelo said.
Angelo said that many anti-Israel protesters across the United States insist LGBTQ people aren’t treated particularly well in the United States when confronted with facts about how they would be treated in Gaza or the West Bank.
"Well, that could not be further from the truth. Here in the United States, we have protection from job discrimination for gay and trans individuals that came through a Supreme Court ruling. We have same-sex marriage is the law of the land in all 50 states, and just more generally, aside from legislation, we have a country that welcomes people of all faiths and family types," Angelo said.
"Contrast that with what you see over in the Palestinian territories where same-sex marriage isn't something that's even a possibility or discussed," he said. "There are no protections in terms of employment for sexual orientation or gender."
Palestinian Authority police in 2019 barred gay and transgender rights group from holding events in the West Bank and threatened to arrest participants. Meanwhile, Israel frequently promotes its tolerance on issues of sexual orientation and Tel Aviv is proud of its reputation as a top destination for gay and lesbian travelers.
Angelo said he was stunned in 2013 when he visited the West Bank during an immersion trip to Israel.
"I got to see with my own eyes the disparity in, not just gay rights, but really human rights that are evident when you cross over between Israel and into the Palestinian territories," Angelo said.
New Tolerance Campaign bills itself as a "watchdog organization mobilizing Americans to confront intolerance double-standards by establishment institutions, civil rights groups, universities, and socially-conscious brands," according to its website.
"NTC action campaigns empower ordinary Americans to hold accountable self-proclaimed arbiters of tolerance when they betray their own stated values," the site says.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
