Israel’s war in Gaza arrives in Fire Island
They’re here, they’re queer — and they love Hamas.
As Israel’s war against the terror group rages into its ninth month, LGBT activists who have been a frequent — and curious — part of city protests against the Jewish state made their presence known on the gay enclave of Fire Island.
On June 2, members of Act Up, a radical LGBT nonprofit, stormed the island’s Trailblazer’s Park to rip down a flag honoring Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Bronx Democrat, the first openly gay Afro-Latino member of Congress and a vocal advocate for Israel.
The flag honoring Torres was chosen last summer, along with 16 others, generated no controversy at the time.
The Trailblazers Task Force lauded Torres “commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ individuals from their youth through their senior years” when he was chosen.
The park is just off the main pier which welcomes visitors arriving at the summer getaway.
In the place of the Torres banner, Act Up hung a flag honoring Cecilia Gentili, a transgender sex worker and drug addict whose funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in February caused controversy.
Act Up vandals also hung a black flag reading “silence = death” with an image of a watermelon, a symbol associated with Palestinian terrorism.
The unauthorized Hamas flag was then ripped down by Michael Lucas, a gay porn star and activist, on June 3.
He filmed the removal, during which he said, “Problem solved.”
Act Up, which became famous in the 1980s and 90s for their AIDS activism, has lately pivoted away from their traditional mission to focus on Hamas activism.
Jason Rosenberg, who does comms work for the group has posted negatively about Torres on X dozens of times since Oct 7.
Act Up said they were responding to Torres’ support for “genocide.”
Torres said he was targeted by far-left “racism” which “disproportionately targets people of color who refuse to fall in line with their Jew hatred.”
Doug Harris, co-chair of the task force, said there were no plans to involve law enforcement over the vandalism and that “we are currently in discussions on ways to honor Ritchie Torres for his contributions.”
The original Torres flag will not be restored.
