Not Gay as in Happy but Queer as in Free Palestine is a statement that first appeared on placards in Palestinian queer solidarity marches around the globe, and later visualised by artist and designer Marwan Kaabour during Pride Month in 2021.
The design is a creative wordplay, at once championing gay and queer identities, while reminding of alternative readings of queer that signify the other, the unconventional or nonconformist – ideologies that resonate with the struggle for a Free Palestine.
The sentiment also stands in bold defiance of Pinkwashing, the weaponization of supposed comparable progressiveness for LGBTQIA+ rights, especially in arguments made as a distraction from settler colonial violence. In this case the proclamation is in direct confrontation to common prejudices which, for example, conflate Islam with homophobic violence.
