• FR
  • The F.A.G.S.

    CALL TO ACTION FOR THE
    SEPTEMBER 20TH COUNTERPROTEST





    Who are we?


    The Faction Against Genocide, in Solidarity (F.A.G.S.) is a collective of trannies, fags and dykes of conscience denouncing Fierté Montreal’s pinkwashing.

    We, queers of conscience, denounce Fierté Montréal’s pinkwashing. In accepting dirty money from corporate and capitalist interests, Fierté signs off on the genocidal investments of its partners.

    In allowing floats for Zionist organizations, banks, and corporations, Fierté provides a platform and legitimacy to the racist rhetoric of its partners.

    We say: NOT IN OUR NAME!

    None of us are free
    until we are all free.


    Square black background. In white text, "We are" is written at the top. In the middle is written "F.A.G.S." in large font where the letters are pink and the periods white squares. The "A" in "F.A.G.S." is an upside down triangle. Underneath the acronym is the full name: "Faction Against Genocide, in Solidarity" where the first letter of each word is purple and the rest of the text in white and much smaller. A circular Palestinian flag is at the bottom centre of the screen. At the bottom left is a Three Arrows Anti-Fascist symbol and in the bottom right is the Transgender unicode symbol.

    The Zionist entity known as “Israel” has a long history of instrumentalizing a veneer of queer acceptance as an excuse to perform acts of genocide…

    … ethnic cleansing, apartheid, collective punishment, chemical warfare, carpet bombing, targeting of civilian infrastructure, mass imprisonment, and international war crimes against Palestine and the Palestinian people.
    In turn, they use racist and islamophobic stereotypes to broadly paint Palestinians as homophobic barbarians. This tactic, known as pinkwashing, is a cornerstone of the “Brand Israel” propaganda campaign.

    An Israeli Occupation Force soldier holding a rainbow pride flag. On the flag, "In the name of love" is written by hand in English, Arabic and Hebrew. The soldier stands in fron of the ruins of Gaza, in the background we see the rubble of carpet-bombed buildings.

    White text centred at the top reads "No Pride in Genocide, No Genocide in Pride!" The Fierté Montréal Logo fills the middle of the image with "is complicit in Palestinian Genocide" underneath. The logo for F.A.G.S. is spelled underneath with the first letter of each word in black and enlarged while the rest of the letters are small and in white text. It reads "Faction Anti-Genocidaire et Solidaire." The background is purple.

    More broadly, we denounce Fierté Montréal’s capitalist and colonialist co-optation of the struggle for our queer collective liberation.

    The Stonewall Uprising was a series of riots led by broke trans people of colour, not a million-dollar parade led by rich white cis gay men and their corporate and state sponsors.
    In the words of the late Sylvia Rivera, an instrumental participant in the Stonewall Uprising and lifelong trans revolutionary activist,

    “this is no longer my pride.
    I gave them their pride, but
    they have not given me mine.”

    We demand that Fierté Montréal

    1. cut all ties with Zionist and colonialist corporations, banks, government branches, and community groups;

    2. explicitly state its solidarity with Palestinian liberation;

    3. take immediate action to right its wrongs;

    4. stand in solidarity with all colonized peoples and all victims of state repression, from Turtle Island to Palestine.

    Sponsors

    The following sponsors of Fierté Montreal are complicit in Israeli apartheid in a variety of ways.

    Logo of TD Bank. The letters TD are in white on a green background.

    Logo for Loto Quebec in blue with the words "Loto Quebec" in a darker blue underneath.

    Logo for Bubly, a subsidiary of Pepsi-Co. The "u" in "bubly" has the colours of the rainbow. Underneath the logo it says sparkling water and the background is a sky blue with bubbles coloured slightly darker blue.

    Logo for the STM. Société de Transport de Montreal.

    Logo for the SAQ. Société des alcools du Québec.

    Air Canada pride logo. This image has a white background. A red maple leaf is at the center of the image with a thin circle around it. This circle is a cutout from the progress pride flag such that the rainbow colours and the triangle on the left side of the flag representing trans and BIPOC folk are visible. The bottom has the words Air Canada in red.

    The Rogers logo is on the right but the usual red colour is replaced with rainbow colours. The centre and right of the image has the word " ROGERS" in red. The background is white.

    Home depot logo. An orange background with the words "The Home Depot" in white and at a forty five degree angle where the left side of the words are at the bottom left of the image.

    A black circle on a white background with the acronym "M.A.C." inside the circle in white text. The logo for M.A.C. Cosmetics.

    Bud Light logo. Blue background with the words "Bud Light" in white in the centre. Those words are surrounded by a rectangular outline with rounded corners which has a blue colour that is slightly lighter than the background.

    Green and white Starbucks logo.

    Loblaws Logo. White background. Black text at the bottom reads "Loblaws." The logo for Loblaws takes up the upper four fifths of the image.