The "Queer" Inquisition

How Spain's LGBTQ+ community are pushing Jews out

This article has been updated since yesterday with newly released information on the perpetrators, and the resulting action from the venue owners.

Mica and Nikki, American married lesbian Jews, live in Barcelona, they tell me on the phone. They’ve been there for about six months and so far they feel “lucky” that they have yet to experience the de rigueur Jew hatred that has been adopted as the sport of the LGBTQ+ community there. They should feel lucky. For the “queers” of Spain rank among the most racist on the planet right now, given their full-time jobs policing the alleged “genocide” that is solely happening in Gaza.

Last night, Friday May 29, at around 11.45pm, the couple went to a queer women’s sauna event - Thermas Barcelona – at a venue on Carrer De La Diputacio 46. A private organization named Bollers Al Vapor rents the space out every few months. “We waited in line, and put our names down, they were pretty nice to us, and we were standing waiting for the towels and one of the organizers came up to my wife and abruptly asked us if she was a Zionist,” recalls Mica. “We hadn’t said anything political,” she says. “It was out of the blue.”

Indeed, when the staff there noticed their Stars of David, the atmosphere turned hostile. They recognized that Mica and Nikki were Jewish and so began the antizionist purity test. They argue antizionism is just criticism of Israel, so why does it perform as a violent hate movement against Jews every single time? A verbal sparring match with two of the staff ensued. Eventually more staff joined the spectacle until Mica and Nikki were surrounded by bullies.

Finally, Mica was physically thrown out. “I wasn’t hurt but they were trying to grab my phone and push me out of there,” she says. Watch:

The glee of one of these Queers For Palestine is sickening. Look at the unfiltered so-called queer “joy” on the face of self-righteous bigot número dos. It’s the most fun for them. They’ve found a mechanism to openly hate a minority group; a salve for their shame, their self-loathing, their envy, their victimhood, their navel-gazing oppression. While Mica and Nikki were forced to leave, they were told that the establishment does not “condone genocide” and the Jew haters proceeded to repeat the words “Free Palestine” at the couple, who were given no air to voice their own reality, share their beliefs or - most ironically - identify and define themselves. Instead, they were tossed out like scraps. The return of the Spanish inquisition? Jews being expelled as progressive? In Spain there is a saying. “Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.” Even if a monkey dresses in silk, it remains a monkey.

Reports of antisemitic incidents in Spain surged 321% since October 7, 2023, according to the Observatory Against Antisemitism. Jewish groups and Israel’s Foreign Ministry have condemned this specific incident. Barcelona’s Jewish community has urged authorities to investigate it as a hate crime.

It’s of no surprise to me. I experienced this attitude in Madrid before October 7, even. I had spent time there. In fact, my last ever evening in Spain will never escape my memory, as I was offered the perspective of a queer non-Jewish antizionist about the Israel-Palestine conflict, presented as somehow more evolved than my own lived experience. Regrettably, I didn’t have the strength to make a fuss. We pick and choose our battles. Racists love to lecture their prey, especially those they’re envious of. The Spanish subtly rejected my faith and my traditions. Looks of confusion around Shabbat tables. The elderly offering that Jews are modern “Nazis”. Pork wars. I was quietly cast aside, and the erasure and dehumanization dripped on from there like a slow-released poison. You see it in this video above, as another one of these self-congratulatory idiots laughs, and tells Mica that actually Jewish and Zionist is not the same thing. “No, not really,” she says, followed by that chilling Nazi smile. (I’m assuming gender identity here with my prehistoric eyes, sorry).

It’s coming from both sides in Spain, no doubt. Right and Left. However, it is predominant on the fascist Left, and it is being actively pushed by the militantly antisemitic LGBTQ+ community. Tell me, what is there to be “proud” of here? Are they proud of erasing Jews from other people’s lives? What a heroic conquest!

One of the racists has now been identified as Teo Pardo, a trans activist, and high school biology teacher. Another has been identified as Marta Busquets Gallego, a lawyer, author and parent. Another as Irene Cruz Gomez who has a doctorate from the University of Barcelona. I expected it. The same types swung a wrecking ball at me because it gave them a kick. And is the community better off for wasting all of its time eradicating incredible, passionate, morally sane Jews?

Straight Jews often tell me that this antisemitism comes from a place of ignorance. Reader: it does not. Why is the new LGBTQ+ community so hateful to Jews? Weak people can be cruel. They claim strength but they’re performing. They mask “joy” but they internalize shame. They align over how they hate the world, over who is their enemy – it gives them a sense of community and purpose, leaving themselves open to future attack by those who truly want to do them harm, like theocratic Jihadists. They’ve submitted to something far more sinister than their own failings. They brand themselves as “harmless”, “zen” and “kind”, while they glean fleeting moments of happiness from inflicting harm on others. The reason is they are lost and angry. They envy our resilience, our certainty. They are jealous of our pride.

When people are beaten down, they are easily corrupted by the same people who initially beat them down – yet wear a costume of empathy. That’s why many intelligent vulnerable hearts and minds are so manipulated by those who would hurt and abuse them all over again. It starts innocently with books and universities. It ends in violent exclusion. They sought out this doctrine. Minority people who actively hate Jews enjoy the revenge: for once they can indulge aggression towards the perceived weak. They get to perform strength, and act out the violence that they have experienced. They indulge the power trip. The victim becomes the abuser. Decades ago, it was a crime to be openly gay in public. Now it is a crime to be Jewish and gay, and the tormentor is the tormented. Jews were among the bravest of the original movement. We fought battles others didn’t have the stomach for.

They will insist that’s not what’s happening. The self-identifying “Queers” of Spain, Italy and France etc aren’t against Jews. Never. They just don’t want us to be anywhere near them. They don’t want us to be in their homes, in the places they frequent, on their streets, etc. They take great care to communicate to us that we are welcome nowhere. They’re not racists. They’d just rather Jews stopped existing…

Never let these self-flagellating, soulfully anorexic ignoramuses define you, define us. The “tolerant” and “inclusive” have allowed themselves to become openly hateful toward Jewish lesbians in Barcelona. Spain boasts itself as one of the friendliest places to be LGBTQ+. “Unless you’re Jewish,” says Mica. Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2005 and Pride events are annual spectacles. Yet the reality for Jewish gays and lesbians is very different. The community, already small, feels increasingly invisible or underground. Synagogues have added security; some events stay low-profile. The paradox is “crazy” to Mica. “It’s not fun,” she says, crestfallen.

I’ve received many messages from Spanish Jews in the wake of sharing this video. One gay man told me he “lost everything” after October 7. Another Jewish lesbian said she “always felt afraid” in Spain, has emigrated to another country but still becomes anxious upon returning. Mica and Nikki have been “very aware” of the climate of antisemitism in Spain. “Every day I see something new when I open my phone,” says Mica. “The queer community has been so important to us in our life, and since 10/7 we just feel like we’ve been completely pushed out.” This, however, was their first ugly experience in Spain. “In the six months we’ve been here, we’ve only met two Jews. We just don’t know where they are,” says Nikki. The upshot of the incident is that they’re now fully linked to the local Jewish groups. They’ve filed a report with the police. They are grateful the officers have taken their complaint seriously but they don’t feel confident about a result due to “the bureaucracy of Spain”.

Is there any end to this tragedy?

I have watched the radicalization and brain rot happen to so many brilliant gay and lesbian people I love since 2017. They experience a trauma and instead of finding purpose and surviving it, they join the cult of Progressive, fill their hearts with hate, limit their minds with dogma and turn against the people who tried to love them, many of us Jews. We are now somehow to blame for their pain. (At least we’ve let their parents off the hook!) The cult operates through coercive control, dictating what media outlets you’re allowed to consume; what books, documentaries, and films you can watch; who you can and cannot be friends with; who you keep in contact with, who you follow on social media, your email inboxes; where you’re allowed to socialize, how you should use your voice and who you should collaborate or work with. Don’t want to “look” antisemitic? Just re-post Hannah “last Jew to the gas chamber” Einbinder. The collective is falsely framed as protection, safety and care. It is narcissistic group manipulation. It is ugly, but they’re too indoctrinated to see the sickness we see so plainly in this video. Do they have individual agency any more?

They project their extreme mental illnesses onto the rest of us. But we are not unhinged, we are not unstable. We are not showing Jews the door.

There is nothing to celebrate in these alleged LGBTQ+ rights meccas. Nada. Not in Spain, not in Italy, not in the UK, not in France. I have booked my flights to go to Israel for Pride this June. If I’m going to be attacked for being a Jew, I would rather do it as an accepted proud, lesbian, feminist, multi-dimensional, self-loving Zionist in Israel at the hands of our enemy Islamists, than in the racist suicidal corners of these once liberal, enlightened, romantic Western cities.

Spain is not friendly for gay people. It’s just pretending to be. Not allowing Jews in public spaces. Kicking Jews out. The leftist LGBTQ+ refuse point blank to be in a room with Jews. They lie and make up excuses about why it’s unsafe, or disloyal. Lying eventually wears on you. They look ill because they are. Something is deeply wrong.

The Spanish outlet Infobae has already picked up the viral Instagram post I made about this incident. You can read that here. In English, it says:

Among the reactions, the post by journalist Eve Barlow stands out; she shared the video on Instagram. Barlow is a British-American journalist known for her social media activity and her stance on debates related to international politics. In sharing the video, Barlow wrote in her post, in which she harshly criticizes the context of the incident, that the situation reflects what she considers a worrying climate of discrimination. Among her assertions, she stated that “the Spanish queer community has become so racist that it is objectively sickening.”

A final question to Mica and Nikki: does this make you hesitant to go to queer parties in Barcelona going forward?

“Yeah, it’s something we have to think about every time we leave the house,” says Mica. “The vibe right now is that I don’t trust making friends here.”

For gay and lesbian Jews, October 7 has been eviscerating. We’ve lost our tribe, our safety, our community. We are uniquely at risk given how fervently the hatred of us exists among our own. The betrayal and isolation has been so inherently intimate, while our abusers play act as all-inclusive, loving and kind. Bilious.

“We like to believe that the likelihood of it happening to you is low,” says Nikki. “We’re not gonna stop our lives because there are horrible people. We’re not gonna be erased from these spaces, even though it’s uncomfortable. We’ll wear Jewish stars. We’ll keep on keeping on. It feels like a disservice to ourselves and where we came from to move any differently.”

The group responsible will no longer be able to host parties at the venue after discriminating against Jewish lesbians. Today, the venue owners released the following statement to say that they condemn all discrimination.

Spain’s June should be a Shame month. Not a Pride month. This isn’t about one sauna in Barcelona. It’s an urgent question: do “queer" spaces in Europe still mean anything if they exclude the very people who helped build them?

This article ran in Spanish in La Razon

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