Today marks the fourth anniversary of the mass shooting at Pulse Nightclub. 49 lives were taken by violence during Latin night at a club that was a gathering place for many young LGBTQ people of color.

Each year on the anniversary of Pulse we #HonorThemWithAction. I urge you to visit www.HonorThemWithAction.org to mark this day and commit to action.

This painful anniversary corresponds with Pride month, and this year comes at a time when so much collective grief and anger over persistent, systemic racism and violence, including police violence, is culminating in nationwide, even worldwide, protest. We know from the memory of the first Pride the power to make change that can come when we collectively demand it loudly and do not stop until we are heard.

This season of remembrance, protest, and Pride throws starkly into relief how much of the advances and casualties for our LGBTQ community are borne by BIPOC queer and transgender people. From one of the first bricks thrown at Stonewall, to Tony McDade and other Black transgender victims of police violence, to the ongoing epidemic of violence against transgender women of color — we mourn too many beautiful lives lost even as we honor the courage of those who have fought again and again to have basic rights recognized.

As we move further into Pride season, we are deepening our commitment to our interconnected fights for racial justice and LGBTQ justice. I invite you to visit our racial justice resources page, and to share with us how you are showing up in this fight. It will take all of us.

In Massachusetts we are also supporting the Trans Resistance Vigil and March and the Transgender Emergency Fund.

Trans Resistance Vigil and March
Saturday, June 13, 2020 3pm-5pm
Playstead Field at Franklin Park

Join us at the march button

We have said it before but it bears repeating. Black lives matter. Black queer and trans lives matter. The LGBTQ equality movement has taken steps forward through the courage and tenacity of Black trans people like Marsha B. Johnson and so many others. During Pride month and every month we must show up for and with those in our community who are the most vulnerable to violence and erasure.