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Columbia University in the City of New YorkNew York, N.Y. 10027SCHOOL OF LAW

Katherine M. Franke Voice: (212) 854-0061Fax: (212) 854-7946

Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law kfranke@law.columbia.eduDirector, Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

February 20, 2012

Jody M. HuckabyExecutive DirectorPFLAG1828 L Street, NW, Suite 660Washington, D.C. 20036

Dear Mr. Huckaby:

I write you in connection with the meeting PFLAG, in conjunction with the IsraeliEmbassy, is holding on Wednesday with representatives from Aguda, Israels national Lesbian,Gay Bisexual Organization.

I applaud PFLAGs efforts to reach out to international partners working to improve thelives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. Building bridges between people of allsexual orientations and gender identities living in all corners of the world is a tremendouslyimportant mission, which I support whole-heartedly. As the former chair of the Board ofDirectors of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, I am particularlypleased when I see U.S. LGBT NGOs partnering with similar groups internationally.

I write you now, however, to express some concern about a meeting that is underwrittenby another state government, through its embassy. I am particularly concerned about the degreeto which the Israeli government has enlisted members of the gay community to be part of largerforeign policy efforts to repair Israels international reputation. Aguda, unfortunately, has playeda key role in this national re-branding campaign, and I hate to see an organization as important asPFLAG become implicated in a public relations campaign that will likely tarnish its well-earnedreputation.

I have recently returned from Israel/Palestine as part of a delegation of prominent lesbian,gay, bisexual, transgender and queer academics, activists, artists, and cultural workers whotravelled to the West Bank to better understand the reality of occupation on the ground and tomeet with lesbian, gay, trans and queer Palestinians about the work they are doing in Palestine.Our delegation was historic, insofar as we were the first group to visit the Occupied Territorieswith an explicit gay/trans/queer focus. What we learned while we were there was the degree to

which the Israeli government has set out to counter international criticism it has received for itstreatment of Palestinians by advertising the gay-friendliness of Israeli culture. In this sense, gayand lesbian Israelis have been recruited by their government to travel internationally to placessuch as Washington D.C., to act as ambassadors to rehabilitate Israels international reputation inmeetings, conferences and convenings such as the one you are holding on Wednesday. So too,the Israeli government has appropriated rather large sums to underwrite gay and lesbian events inthe U.S. and Europe as a part of this larger public relations effort. The Equality Forums 2012Global Summit, to be held in May in Philadelphia, is another salient example.

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In our delegations conversations with gay, lesbian, trans and queer activists in the WestBank, they expressed great frustration that that their lives and well-being were being used bysome voices within Israeli to drum up support for Israeli policy and to demonize Palestiniansociety. In fact, they are well organized and are doing incredible work through two principalorganizations: al Qaws (www.alqaws.org) and Aswat (www.aswatgroup.org). Both of theseorganizations provide support services, including a telephone help line, to LGBT people in theregion. Unfortunately, Aguda representatives are often quoted as saying that they run the only

telephone support line in the Middle East. So too, as part of Agudas tour through the U.S. andCanada this month, their director, Mike Hamel, told a Canadian reporter that: when it comes tothe Middle East, [Israel] is the only place you can be LGBT and be active. This simply isnt thecase, as the activists we met with during our delegation made evident. While it is wonderful thatthe Aguda representatives are interested in meeting with U.S. LGBT organizations such asPFLAG, it is truly unfortunate that they do not or cannot work more closely with the LGBTgroups in their own back yard.

I write you now not to discourage you from doing coalition work with partners aroundthe globe who share PFLAGs mission, but out of concern that you and PFLAG have been drawninto a public relations campaign launched by the state of Israel that is using gay rights to advancelarger agendas that well-exceed PFLAGs mission. To be sure, many gay and lesbian people liveopen, free lives in Israel, particularly in Tel Aviv, and this is something to celebrate. So too,there is much to learn from cross-cultural dialogue about doing gay and lesbian rights work intransnational settings. But it is tragic to witness how LGBT rights have been politicized andmanipulated for cynical reasons in certain corners of the globe, particularly although notexclusively in the Middle East.

If you choose to go ahead with your meeting with Aguda representatives on Wedensday,I would encourage you to be careful not to be drawn into a larger reputational re-brandingcampaign that was launched in 2005 by then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to make people likeus. So too, I would encourage you to meet and partner with Palestinian LGBT organizations tobetter round out your exposure to the challenges and tools of making life more free for LGBTpeople in the region.

Members of our delegation in January were so moved by what we saw and what welearned that we co-authored a statement of solidarity with the LGBT people and organizations

we met in the West Bank: http://www.queersolidaritywithpalestine.com/. The Middle East is avery complicated part of the world, to be sure, and the issue of LGBT rights there is equallycomplicated, in many ways more so than here in the U.S. I urge you and the PFLAG leadershipto reconsider undertaking joint projects or receiving funding from any national entity, butparticularly from the state of Israel, given the cynical use of gay rights in larger politics of theregion.

I would be happy to meet with you to discuss this matter further.

Sincerely,

Katherine M. Franke