an important message from our friend Matt this Pride month
As Pride month rolls on, we want to take a moment to acknowledge not only how our community members are celebrating, but how they’re continuing to challenge, question, and fight the injustices that still plague the LGBTQIA+ community. We also want to take a moment to recognize those marginalized LGBTQIA+ members who can’t celebrate, or still feel unsafe or unwelcome in their communities. Today, we’re hearing from our good friend, Matt, (aka @mattloveshair) to raise awareness, specifically for the BIPOC trans community.
“To be visibly queer is to choose your happiness over your safety” -Da’Shaun L. Harrison (author, editor).
Pride Month is here!
Our parades are back and our communities are safe again to gather, but what are we coming together to express?
It’s fair to say that everyone can be a part of pride for their own reasons. In my opinion we gather to celebrate the progress made and challenge the discrimination still faced by so many.
So far in 2021 seventeen anti-trans bills have been signed into action in America (source 2021 Officially Becomes Worst Year in Recent History for LGBTQ State Legislative Attacks as Unprecedented Number of States Enact Record-Shattering Number of Anti-LGBTQ Measures Into Law - HRC). This legislation disproportionately harms the BIPOC trans community. For many trans people in America, these systematic prejudices threaten their everyday existence.
Da’Shaun said that “To be visibly queer is to choose your happiness over your safety,” to address the daily risks faced by the black queer and trans community. Yet this also highlights the power and strength that the community holds—the power to discover one’s own truths and the strength to pursue them.
If you are reading this and feel gratitude for your own freedom and strength, now is the time to pay it forward with action. Support local and national LGBTQIA+ initiatives focusing on assistance to the trans community. These organizations could greatly benefit from your time, energy, support, and passion.
If you know of other LGBTQIA+ organizations that could use our help, let us know in the comments below!
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