Stanford to Host “Pinkwashing 101” Teach-In Featuring Palestinian Drag Artist
The public event features Mama Ganuush, a trans Palestinian drag artist and past plaintiff in federal litigation alleging U.S. officials’ “complicity in genocide”
Stanford University’s Women’s Community Center will host a “Pinkwashing 101” teach-in on February 12, 2026, featuring Mama Ganuush, a trans Palestinian drag artist who has been a plaintiff in federal litigation against Congress members, accusing them of “complicity in genocide” in Gaza.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by four additional Stanford departments including the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity and the Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
According to the Stanford events page, the teach-in aims to “unpack the concept of pinkwashing.” The event description states participants will “center queer, trans, and Palestinian perspectives often erased from mainstream narratives.”
Activist’s History of Anti-Israel Advocacy & “Pinkwashing Claims”
Mama Ganuush, described on their personal website as “an activist who is dedicated to ending the Palestinian genocide & liberation from the Israeli apartheid,” served as a named plaintiff in the Taxpayers Against Genocide (TAG) lawsuit filed in December 2024 in federal court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit targeted two members of Congress who voted for military aid to Israel, as well as then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
According to a UN Universal Periodic Review submission by TAG and the National Lawyers Guild International Committee, Mama Ganuush provided testimony in the lawsuit. The TAG lawsuit was dismissed on February 10, 2025, with the judge ruling it presented a “political question” outside the court’s jurisdiction.
In October 2024, Mama Ganuush appeared on the Friday Night Semites podcast in an episode titled “Mama Ganuush: Trans Palestinian Drag Artist, Israel’s Pinkwashing, & Suing President Biden.” The podcast description states the episode covers “the beauty of queer Palestinian life, the ugliness of Israel’s pinkwashing propaganda” and discusses why Ganuush “joined a lawsuit against President Biden for the U.S.’s complicity in war crimes.”
The same podcast account, @fridaynightsemites on Instagram, published a video segment in October 2024 titled “Gay Orgies in Ramallah” featuring Mama Ganuush.
Organizational Affiliations
Mama Ganuush is the founder of two organizations. The Hala Collective describes its mission as being “dedicated to decolonizing art and centering the voices of activist artists, particularly queer, Indigenous, Global South, and Palestinian creators.” The organization states it aims to “dismantle colonial narratives and build long-term community resilience and sustainability.”
Mama Ganuush also founded the JAHA Film Festival, described as “a festival built by and for its community” that showcases “trans, nonbinary, and intersex stories from the Global South.” According to a February 2026 press release, the festival is launching a “Global South Trans Film School” alongside its programming.
LGBTQ Rights in Palestinian Territories
While the teach-in focuses on the activist concept of "pinkwashing"—the use of LGBTQ-friendly policies to distract from or obscure other human rights violations—LGBTQ individuals in Palestinian-controlled areas face severe persecution.
In Gaza, same-sex activity is a criminal offense with threats of imprisonment or execution by Hamas. In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority provides no legal protections despite technical decriminalization.
A 2023 UN report documented torture and detention of gay Palestinians. The desperation has driven some to seek asylum in Israel; in 2024, Israel's Tel Aviv Court for Administrative Affairs ruled that LGBTQ Palestinians facing persecution can request asylum. The two largest Palestinian LGBTQ organizations, alQaws and Aswat, are legally headquartered in Israel for protection. In 2019, the Palestinian Authority banned Al Qaws from holding West Bank events.
Does Mama Ganuush hold American citizenship?