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Racism and the Censorship of "Gay Imperialism"

Zsa Zsa | 05.11.2009 15:42 | Analysis | Anti-racism | Gender | World

Peter Tatchell Gags the voices of Lesbian Muslims

by Aren Aizura, from MR Zine, October 23, 2009.

Dear friends,

Over the last few years a number of timely publications have illuminated the connections between gender and sexuality, the War on Terror and racialisation. One of these is Out of Place: Interrogating Silences in Queerness/Raciality, edited by Adi Kuntsman and Esperanza Miyake and published by Raw Nerve Books in 2008. An edited collection examining intersections between race and sexuality in the United Kingdom, Out of Place joins Jasbir Puar's Terrorist Assemblages as a key contribution to this debate. Alongside other contributions in Out of Place, the chapter "Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the War on Terror", by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem pointed to the continuing deployment of queerness as a symbol of "freedom" to rationalise the continuing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and future wars in Iran and elsewhere, as well as to rationalise restrictive and racist immigration policies in "Western" or "liberal" nations. "Gay Imperialism" uses the work of activist Peter Tatchell, founder of Outrage!, as an example of how white gay activists can become complicit with this agenda by painting Islam as inherently homophobic and misogynist, and appointing themselves as the saviours of non-white queers.

On September 7th, Raw Nerve Books declared Out of Place to be out of print, removed it from circulation and sale, and issued an online apology to Peter Tatchell. Presumably this is the result of threats of legal action by Tatchell and Outrage!. The apology quotes its own publication to apologise for what it accepts as defamatory statements and misrepresentation of Tatchell and Outrage! by Haritaworn, Tauqir and Erdem. These include:

1. that Tatchell is "Islamaphobic" and "part of the Islamaphobia industry"
2. that Tatchell is "racist"
3. that Tatchell "sling[s] mud onto Muslim communities"

As one sees if one reads "Gay Imperialism", these so-called accusations are all taken grossly out of context and reduce the complexity of Haritaworn, Tauqir and Erdem's argument. The apology continues by obsequiously praising Tatchell and Outrage!'s "anti-racist" work, and making further accusations against a number of African LGBT activists, who had refused to work with Tatchell precisely because of his paternalistic attitude, and who are cited in "Gay Imperialism".

It seems likely that Tatchell's lawyers presented Raw Nerve with an already-written apology and asked them to sign and publish it. Tatchell is notoriously litigious. He is equally notorious for staging highly publicised, "one man" actions that appear to have just as much to do with his public image as a gay celebrity activist as any political work. However, Tatchell himself is not important here. What is important is that this critique is evidently so threatening to Tatchell and to the book's publishers that it must be removed from circulation, and the authors must be condemned as liars.

This incident proves something about how difficult it is to do anti-racist work. Pointing out racism, no matter how carefully we might phrase it and no matter which arguments we have about the use of the word 'racism', is often perceived as a personal and individual affront. Those so accused often appear to find it wounding or traumatic -- psychically wounding, but more importantly, wounding to their public image. "How dare you accuse me of racism? I am not racist; I have lots of friends who are people of color!" goes the cliched defensive response we are all familiar with. This way, the person or organisation critiqued can escape engaging with the content of the critique and put the burden of proof back on the person who raised the issue. It is not coincidental that the person making a critique of racism is often non-white, deploying old colonial stereotypes that people of colour are untrustworthy ingrates who don't know what's good for them. This problem of white, "well-intentioned" activists ignoring or actively silencing the desires of the people they profess to help in order to maintain the myth of their own generous self-sacrifice is endemic to many struggles: feminist anti-"trafficking" activism; indigenous land and rights struggles; migration activism; the backlash against the wearing of hijab by Muslim women in France and elsewhere, and on and on. The only way it might ever stop is for its perpetrators to acknowledge their role.

Meanwhile a really amazing book is being censored. The authors of the chapter and the editors of Out of Place are unable to comment due to UK libel law. It's unlikely that Raw Nerve will reissue the book, even if the editors wanted this. Meanwhile the authors' reputations are themselves besmirched. There are several things you can do about this situation:

1. Circulate this and your own commentary among your friends, companeros, colleagues.
2. Circulate "Gay Imperialism" -- a PDF is online here:
 http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=edf3d795b172f5376b21be4093fab7ace04e75f6e8ebb871
3. Write letters in support of Jin Haritaworn to:
The Gender Institute,
The London School of Economics and Political Science,
Houghton Street, London
WC2A 2AE, UK

Please pass this around, respond, send it to other listservs and read the other statements written about the censorship of Out of Place:

"Out of Place, Out of Print: On the Censorship of the First Queerness/Raciality Collection in Britain" by Johanna Rothe, Monthly Review,  http://monthlyreview.org/mrzine/rothe151009.html

"On the Censorship of 'Gay Imperialism' and Out of Place", X:Talk website,  http://www.xtalkproject.net/?p=415

In solidarity,

Aren Aizura

Aren Aizura is a Post Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Gender Studies of Indiana University, Bloomington.

Zsa Zsa
- e-mail: Zsa@btinternet.com

Additions

Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the "War on Terror"

05.11.2009 16:07

Attached is a PDF of the chapter in question... Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the "War on Terror" by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqui and Esra Erdem.

Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqui and Esra Erdem
- Homepage: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=edf3d795b172f5376b21be4093fab7ace04e75f6e8ebb871


Out of Place - Fabrications against Peter Tatchell

05.11.2009 16:33

Peter Tatchell writes:

There are many, many false things wriiten about me in the book Out of Place. There is not a shred of evidence to support its claims.

This issue has nothing to do with censorship. The issue is printing lies and fabricating quotes. That is what the book Out of Place did to me - and that is why I objected to it.

Fabricating quotes and smearing fellow comrades is shameful and has no place in progressive politics.

All my articles, speeches and news releases are archived on my website. You can view them here:

 http://www.petertatchell.net

I invite anyone to find evidence of my Islamophobia, racism or support for imperialist wars or the “war on terror.” These claims in Out of Place are total fiction. I have campaigned against these or similar injustices for over 40 years.

I was focred to seek an apology and correction regarding one chapter in Out of Place because it printed outright lies and fabricated quotes about me.

The publishers (Raw Nerve Books) were horrified and deeply apologetic. Hence their full apology which you can read here:

 http://www.rawnervebooks.co.uk/Peter_Tatchell.pdf

I did not use the libel laws to suppress Out of Place. This is another lie being spread about me.

The book was already out of print when I drew its falsehoods to the attention of the publishers. It was not withdrawn because of me.

I have no objection to the other chapters in Out of Place being reprinted in a new edition, and I made this clear to Raw Nerve Books.

Free speech, which I defend, should not include the right to print lies designed to wage sectarian wars and to discredit political opponents, which is what the chapter in Out of Place does.

I would defend any of you if you were defamed with such untruths.

No one should be allowed to falsely claim that someone is a racist and that they collaborate with fascists, when they are not and do not. Out of Place should not be allowed to get away with such lies about me - or anyone.

I am sure you would accept that lies and libel are not legitimate free speech. You would not like to be falsely accused of attacking Muslim people and promoting an imperialist agenda, which is what this book did to me.

IslamaphobiaWatch is not a truthful, honest website. It is run by political sectarians to defame and discredit people they see as political enemies. It is full of outright lies against me and many others, including many progressive, left-wing Muslims, anti-racists and supporters, like me, of the anti-war movement.

London’s former Mayor, Ken Livingstone, has since apoloised for making false allegations of Islamophobia against me.

I count many leading Muslim and black activists amoing my friends and political comrades. They know my 40 year record of anti-racist, anti-war and anti-imperialist campaigning. They are aware that I have been a fierce defender of Muslim and black communities against state oppression, including trenchant opposition to the so-called “war on terror”. They would not support me if I had done the things that the book Out Of Place falsely claims.

I hope this reassures you. Best wishes.

Solidarity!

Peter Tatchell, London

repost
- Homepage: http://www.xtalkproject.net/?p=415#comment-2124


Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

Tatchell accused of censorship in book row

05.11.2009 16:38

Peter Tatchell claims academics have accused him of “censorship” as publishers decide against reprinting a book containing defamatory allegations against the gay rights campaigner.

Raw Nerve Books, which published the book Out of Place in 2008, made an apology to Tatchell earlier this year because one of the chapters in the book contained untrue allegations made against him and gay rights group Outrage.

Tatchell said: “Many of my detractors now claim that I forced the book to be withdrawn from sale and that I pressured the publishers to declare it ‘Out of Print.’ Not so.”

Tatchell added: “The book was listed as ‘Out of Print’ on the Raw Books website before I contacted the publishers and challenged the lies and falsehoods they had published about me."

According to Tatchell, the chapter entitled ‘Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality Discourse in the War on Terror’ - by Jin Haritaworn, Tamsila Tauqir and Esra Erdem, suggest that he is “anti-Muslim”, has engaged in “racial politics”, and accused him of being “part of the Islamophobia industry.”

However, since Raw Nerve Books’ decision to abandon plans for a second edition the authors' friends and supporters have been “spreading further smears” according to Tatchell.

Tatchell added: “I have no objection to Out of Place being reprinted, providing it does not include the lies and fabrications about me.”

None of the academics were available to comment.

Emma Marvin
- Homepage: http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=1912


An intelligent thought-provoking debate to be had here, not about Mr T

05.11.2009 23:01

Its really worth reading the comments on this whole debate here -  http://www.xtalkproject.net/?p=415 in which some at least try to get away from turning the whole issue into one about Mr Tatchell and his credibility, and instead try and tease out the issues around how activists might find themselves propping up oppressive racist agendas. A couple of excerpts -

"Critiques of racism are reduced and misheard as personal attacks, which is what blocks a hearing of the critique. In the end, the situation becomes re-coded as a question of individual reputation and good will: we lose the chance to attend to the politics of the original critique...

"We need to reflect on what we are talking about when we are talking about racism. Racism in speech does not simply depend on the explicit articulation of ideas of racial superiority but often works given that such associations do not need to be made explicit. So for example politicians might use a qualifier ‘this is not a war against Islam’ and then use repeatedly terms like ‘Islamic terrorists’ which work to associate Islam with terror through the mere proximity of the words: the repetition of that proximity makes the association ‘essential’. In other words, proximities becomes attributes...

"One of the hardest aspects of this process if how even languages of liberation and freedom, which we might assume to be ‘our languages’, to be oppositional, to be about challenging dominant norms and making possible new forms of flourishing, can be used in this process: freedom can be what ‘we’ have or even what we are. Other critics have pointed out how the language of freedom can be a technology for distinguishing ‘an us’ from ‘a them’...empire itself was justified in these terms, with a description that remains extraordinary for its precision: ‘white men saving brown women from brown men’...

(from Sara Ahmed's comments)

foo
mail e-mail: h


out of print

06.11.2009 00:09

Could it be out of print because no one is buying it? Thats the usual reason for out of print books, its not unusual

dave


Unreality

06.11.2009 00:24

> then use repeatedly terms like ‘Islamic terrorists’

Hmm, what happens if the terrorists themselves define themselves as 'Islamic' as they tend to do? Are we meant to censor or hide the fact, or take it upon ourselves to decide they are not really Islamic?

Once you start retreating into this sort of unreality things rapidly become ridiculous and people don't take it seriously any more. Such a distortion may have worked in a closed society like the old Soviet Union but in one with a relatively free media it is simply open to public ridicule.

Ed


Cutting the Gordian Knot: Fighting both islamophobia and homophobia

06.11.2009 04:42



Hi, here is my take on the debate over “Gay Imperialism: Gender and Sexuality in the war on Terror” and Tatchell:

Cutting the Gordian Knot of Oppression. The Intersections of Homophobia and Islamophobia.

 http://barrykade.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/cutting-through-or-tightening-the-gordian-knot-of-oppression-investigating-the-complex-intersections-of-homophobia-and-islamophobia/

more at:

 http://barrykade.wordpress.com

cheers,

Barry Kade

Barry Kade
- Homepage: http://barrykade.wordpress.com


Queer MBE (Member of the British Empire)?

06.11.2009 12:25

The authors of "Gay Imperialism" quite rightly criticise Peter Tatchell's patronising celebrity style of politics as leading him to crude anti-Muslim stances that can be taken as legitimising ‘the war on terror’.

However it becomes difficult to understand from what perspective Tamsila Tauqir is calling Tatchell to account, when only this year (2009) Tauqir accepted being honoured as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) for work with Muslim communities in Britain from the very same government which is currently actively promoting and waging war on Muslims, whether straight or gay, both inside and outside Britain.

It seem that while Tatchell is using Racism as the "the vehicle that transports white gays and feminists into the political mainstream", his queer Muslim critics are using British state Honours and Patronage for themselves to achieve the same goal.

Xece


hmmff

06.11.2009 20:29

can't say anything critical now without being called a racist. Like it matters - there isnt any laws about being racist so its a mute point anyway.

People seem to think calling someone a racist actually has an effect - if you just ignore it they are then completely stuck for words because they are so used to being able to win arguments by saying the magic word that they have forgetten how to think and debate

lok


?

07.11.2009 04:03

queerness IS a freedom, cultures are not static, muslim communities can develop and accept women and homosexuals as human beings, stop all this cultural relativism, what about all those people who suffer from the religion??

wtf


Tatchell says "not all culture are equal" - what does that mean?

07.11.2009 16:51

In a recent speech at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Peter Tatchell would said: “All peoples possess a culture, but this does not mean all cultures are equally valid and commendable. Some values and ideas are better than others. The Enlightenment was better than the Dark Ages. Freedom is better than slavery. Democracy is better than fascism. Scientific knowledge is better than superstition.” I would be grateful if Peter Tatchell would explain what he means by this.

Is he really suggesting that concepts such as the Enlightenment, Democracy or Science are the preserve of some cultures and not others? And what about cultures that has a history of both good things and bad – such as our own (fascism is a very, very European phenomena). And if some cultures are all bad, what should be done with them? And by whom?

If some was to write or say: “All peoples possess an ethnicity, but this does not mean all races are equally valid and commendable. Some values and ideas are better than others. The Enlightenment was better than the Dark Ages. Freedom is better than slavery. Democracy is better than fascism. Scientific knowledge is better than superstition.” They would be called a racist. Does changing ethnicity for culture really change the central thrust? And if so how?

Richard Farnos
mail e-mail: Farnos@btinternet.com


religion IS "...inherently homophobic and misogynist"

09.11.2009 00:10

from the article:
"Gay Imperialism" uses the work of activist Peter Tatchell, founder of Outrage!, as an example of how white gay activists can become complicit with this agenda by painting Islam as inherently homophobic and misogynist...

Islam, in common with all mainstream religions, IS inherently homophobic and misogynist.

Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism. etc. - apart from all being based on untrue fairy tales, also involve dogmatic brainwashing and encourage discriminatory behaviour like homophobia, racism and sexism.

Sorry to break it to you, but there is no magic invisible person in the sky controlling things. Religion is just made-up bullshit - learn to think for yourselves.

@theist