LGBTQ Organizations Unite to Combat Racial Violence
LGBTQ organizations all across the country are taking a stance against racial violence from the police. With recent shootings by the cops, many have taken a public stance, including our very own One Colorado.
Along with One Colorado, the statement is signed by other queer organizations all across the country to form a unified statement of queers for Black Lives Matter. The statement highlights the recent deaths and recognizes the clear hatred the police force opposes on black lives. In this statement, they express their solidarity.
“Many of our organizations have made progress in adopting intersectionality as a core value and have committed to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. But this moment requires that we go further — that we make explicit commitments to embrace anti-racism and end white supremacy, not as necessary corollaries to our mission, but as integral to the objective of full equality for LGBTQ people,”
“We, the undersigned, recognize we cannot remain neutral, nor will awareness substitute for action. The LGBTQ community knows about the work of resisting police brutality and violence. We celebrate June as Pride Month, because it commemorates, in part, our resisting police harassment and brutality at Stonewall in New York City, and earlier in California when such violence was common and expected. We remember it as a breakthrough moment when we refused to accept humiliation and fear as the price of living fully, freely, and authentically,”
“We understand what it means to rise up and push back against a culture that tells us we are less than, that our lives don’t matter. Today, we join together again to say #BlackLivesMatter and commit ourselves to the action those words require”
The statement is signed by over 50 queer organizations, all who believe in the fight for black lives.
Beginning the statement is a quote by Archbishop Desmond Tutu written over 30 years ago: “if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” This quote is used as a reminder that “indifference can never bridge the divide of hate. And, today, they should serve as a call to action to all of us, and to the Movement for LGBTQ equality.”
Queer organizations aren’t the only ones making statements on their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Many businesses and websites are also taking a stand.
With the awareness growing like wildfire on social media, many individuals and activists are worried that the flame will die out when people begin to slow down their social media posts. It is important to recognize that the fight for equality and acceptance is more than a one-day-job.
The statement of intention comes first, but what will these organizations and corporations do to assist in the revolution?
