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Ivy League LGBTQ group bans ‘Zionists’ from black lesbian movie night

October 26, 2023 | | Print Article

Supporters of Israel were explicitly banned from an on-campus black lesbian film event being held at Columbia University with the leader of an LGBTQ group contending The Holocaust “wasn’t special.”

“It’s FREE PALESTINE over here. Zionists aren’t invited. See you soon, Lion Lez,” declared an ad promoting the “Black Lesbian Film” event which is set to feature one film called “Shakedown” which “chronicles explicit performances in an underground lesbian club in Los Angeles.”

The promotion directly stated that “Zionists aren’t invited” to the event and the group’s founder Lizzy George-Griffin included a message that declared “THE HOLOCAUST WASN’T SPECIAL,” according to the New York Post.

George-Griffin held her ground when asked, telling the Post in a written message that ” We are . . . within our right of freedom of speech to verbally disinvite a genocidal group of people: Zionists,” while also noting that this did not actually mean all Jews.

She also elaborated on her comments about The Holocaust.

“When I say The Holocaust wasn’t special, I mean The Holocaust was not significantly unique from the many other large-scale genocides. When I say the Holocaust wasn’t special, I mean it was not special enough to justify this current genocide against Palestinians,” she wrote.


One student told the New York Post that it was “bewildering” that someone as “disturbingly ignorant” as George-Griffin could have been admitted to the university, and also noted that “antisemitism has become commonplace at Columbia.”

“Israel is the sole democracy in the Middle East, has 2.1 million Arab citizens who have the EXACT SAME rights as all Jews and hold positions in the government, and is the only country in the area where you can hold hands with your same-sex partner and live to see tomorrow,” the student, who wished to only be identified by the initials KA, said in a written statement to the paper.

A spokesperson for Columbia University told The Post, “As we have reiterated many times over the past few weeks, antisemitism or any other form of hate will never be tolerated in our community.”

The spokesperson also noted that “the event organized by Lionlez is not proceeding on Friday and is being reviewed.”

“LionLez does not follow the traditional club structure that most clubs, LGBTQ or otherwise, follow,” explained a piece published earlier this year in the Columbia Spectator. “George-Griffin identified LionLez as ‘an event-based group,’ and labels herself and the rest of the board as ‘event planners.’ Rather than holding weekly meetings, the LionLez board meets approximately once a month to plan their four to five semesterly events, including LezMixes.”

The group and the film event’s disinvitation of “Zionists” were taken apart on social media where many reminded George-Griffin that in Middle East locations like the Hamas-run Gaza, homosexuality is illegal.


Many also called out Columbia University:

Frieda Powers
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