Hi John,

Today is the last day of Pride month, a time we typically celebrate at marches, parades, and events throughout our communities. But this year, Pride demanded more than the normal celebrations.

The coronavirus pandemic made the usual festivities impossible and nationwide protests have served as a powerful reminder of Pride’s roots. Pride was born out of an uprising in response to police violence, led by Marsha P. Johnson, a Black trans woman.

More than 50 years after Stonewall, we are reckoning with the racism at the core of our institutions and protesting, once again, against violence that is too often committed against Black and brown LGBTQIA people and too often carried out by a gun.

A combination of easy access to firearms and bias leaves the LGBTQIA community--and in particular Black and brown LGBTQIA individuals--especially vulnerable to the threat of gun violence. Every year, more than 10,000 hate crimes are carried out with a gun and nearly one-fifth are based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

We saw the devastating combination of hate and gun violence four years ago this month at Pulse nightclub when a gunman opened fire during a Pride celebration, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others in the largest ever attack against the LGBTQIA community.

The tragedy of Pulse rightly drew national attention. But every day, members of the LGBTQIA community fall victim to acts of gun violence that rarely make headlines. That is especially true for trans individuals, and Black trans women in particular.

So this year, as Pride month comes to a close, we reaffirm our commitment to building on the progress we have made to disarm hate and to making our work as inclusive as possible. Join us in demanding that our elected officials take action to disarm hate.

Onward,
Renée