Over the last three months, two major events in Wilton Manors have been canceled over speakers' criticism of Israel’s government. As one of America’s most visible LGBTQ communities, if we continue on this path, we not only risk Wilton Manors’ economic future but the political isolation of LGBTQ equality itself.
In May, an event with Lady Bunny in Wilton Manors was canceled over her statements about Israel and Palestine. This seemed odd, but South Florida and Lady Bunny have an interesting — and dramatic — relationship. Then this month, a political rally for State Representative Angie Nixon called Chomp the Oligarchy was kicked out of its Wilton Manors venue over having a Palestinian speaker. Nixon and the rally organizers, Gen Z for Change, did find an alternate venue for their packed event, not in Wilton Manors, but in Fort Lauderdale.
When events in Wilton Manors keep being blocked for having voices that care about Palestinian rights, our community suffers tremendous damage to its reputation. Support for Israel is cratering in the United States — especially among young people. In April, Pew Research found that 60 percent of Americans hold a negative view of Israel. For Americans aged 18 to 49, it's 70 percent. Young people are essential to Wilton Manors’ long-term economic vitality, and they are starting to want nothing to do with anyone, anything, or any place that is viewed as supporting Israel’s actions.
Even here in Florida, views on Israel are changing. Nixon ran on a platform opposing Israel's actions in Gaza and won the Democratic Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. She carried Broward County by 15 points, and by nearly 20 points in Miami-Dade. Support for Israel among America’s Jewish community has suffered as well, with 63 percent saying they are “pro-Israel and critical of the Israeli government policies.”
These changes in public support are understandable, given we have witnessed years of horrific reports coming out of Gaza. Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an American surgeon who has volunteered in war zones for 3 decades, told NY Magazine he had never seen children “incinerated” or “shredded” in other war zones the way they were in Gaza. This was stated after explaining how he also had never seen so many cases of toddlers with multiple gunshot wounds in a war zone before. His descriptions are similar to those of 65 medical professionals discussing what they witnessed in Gaza in an opinion piece in the New York Times in 2024. Their accounts are just the tip of the iceberg of videos, articles, reports, and investigations of the deaths of reporters, a mass grave of paramedics, the strikes on the World Central Kitchen humanitarian convoy, and so many other stories of how at least 73,000 people in Gaza have been killed in this conflict.
What Israel has done in Gaza is not normal. It's important that we come to terms with that. Israel’s actions in Gaza do meet the United Nations Genocide Convention’s definition of a genocide. This has been documented by the United Nations, Amnesty International, and the Israeli groups B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel. It's also been labeled a genocide by the International Association of Genocide Scholars. This is not the same thing as a conviction of committing genocide by the United Nations International Court of Justice, but a case against Israel has been brought by South Africa.
There is no scenario where Wilton Manors comes out on top attempting to explain away the conclusions of scholars of genocide, on-the-ground physicians, and human rights groups. We are putting our local economy at risk. We also do a disservice to LGBTQ rights, for if one of the most visible LGBTQ communities in America is perceived to be so callous as to ignore — or worse, defend — the atrocities in Gaza, how can we demand human rights for ourselves?
Alex Morash is a Wilton Manors resident and the former press secretary for the Florida Democratic Party. He also holds a master's degree in Political Science from Northeastern University.
