Five Black LGBTQ leaders held a LGBTQ #BlackLivesMatter Town Hall yesterday, and it’s well worth watching. View it here if you missed the livestream.
The event, hosted by Equality Florida, was moderated by Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith. She was joined by Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David; Minneapolis City Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins; National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon, and civil rights attorney Michele Rayner, who represented the family of Markeis McGlockton, an unarmed Black man shot and murdered by a White man who claimed his action was justified under the state’s “stand your ground” rule.
Since this is a parenting blog, I’ll also note that Jenkins is also a mother and grandmother and Smith is a mother—unsurprisingly, LGBTQ parents are among those in the forefront of working to dismantle both racism and anti-LGBTQ bias.
Equality Florida also notes:
This dialogue also comes on the heels of the murders of seven black transgender women in Florida in less than two years, the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery by white vigilantes in Georgia, and the weaponizing of race by a white woman against Christian Cooper, a black, gay man birdwatching in Central Park, and the disturbing questions raised in the police shooting death of Tony McDade, a Black transman in Tallahassee days ago—all stark reminders of the need for LGBTQ movement leaders to speak out against the systemic racism and hate violence claiming Black lives.
You may also want to mark your calendars for the online event “LGBTQ Community Dismantling White Supremacy,” Tuesday, June 9, 2020, from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. The event will be hosted by GLAD, GLSEN, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Equality Federation, and the National LGBTQ Task Force, who explain, “Convened by white leaders in the LGBTQ+ movement, this conversation will focus on the responsibility and opportunities we as white people have to challenge systemic racism and white supremacy and to hold systems of power accountable.” Register here.
In the meantime, take the time to listen to all (or even part) of what these Black LGBTQ leaders have to say.