Gun violence is a deadly epidemic in our communities and our country. LGBTQ people no longer feel safe entering our schools, attending Pride parades, or even hitting the dance floor on a summer night. Gun violence is robbing us of the health and safety we all deserve.
LGBTQ people, particularly Black transgender women, have a higher risk of violent death, which is related to anti-LGBTQ stigma and discrimination. The Pulse shooting in 2016 focused attention on violent bigotry against LGBTQ people, and the Task Force was one of the first national LGBTQ groups on the ground to respond. Please see our call to Congress to do more on gun violence prevention.
At the same time, there is so much more to the epidemic than mass murders. There are murders by the police, there are murders related to domestic violence, and murders of sex workers. Violence against trans women of color is devastating our community.
Last year, the National LGBTQ Task Force also published a new platform on gun policy that condemned the myth that mental health is linked to gun violence, while at the same time it laid out how police brutality, racism, transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny are all part of the gun violence problem. You can download and read the report here: https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/TF_Gun-Violence-2018-final.pdf The report release was timed to coincide with the March for Our Lives national day of action.
The National LGBTQ Task Force is organizing our annual Creating Change conference in Dallas next year. The Dallas community has experienced violence and its damaging impacts. Please read our statement to Dallas transgender women or color here: https://www.thetaskforce.org/to-dallas-transgender-women-of-color-we-see-you/
And please consider being a part of the healing at our 2020 Creating Change Conference in Dallas January 15-19, 2020. https://www.creatingchange.org/
The National LGBTQ Task Force creates the spaces and conditions for LGBTQ people to live free, to be you! In order for us to move towards the day we can be all of ourselves, all of the time, we must eradicate violence, including gun violence. The Task Force centers the most vulnerable in our communities to create safety and develop solutions. We will continue to organize on the ground, convene our greater community, and push for policies that end gun violence.