Pride Month: Standing with the LGBTQ Community
I fought too long and too hard to end discrimination based on race and color, to not stand up against discrimination against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. Human rights, civil rights, these are issues of dignity. Every human being walking this Earth, whether gay, lesbian, straight, or transgender, is entitled to the same rights. It is in keeping with America’s promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. — Congressman John Lewis
As a racial justice civil rights organization, the National Urban League stands with the LGBTQ community in celebration of LGBT Pride Month.
June was chosen to celebrate LGBT pride to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, a turning point in the LGBT liberation movement that was influenced to a large extent by the Black Power model of advocacy.
In fact, according to reports from the first night of unrest at the Stonewall, a bystander shouted, “Gay power!”, someone began singing “We Shall Overcome.” A Black woman, Stormé DeLarverie, is credited with sparking the uprising. Bleeding from a head wound inflicted by police for complaining her handcuffs were too tight, she shouted to the bystanders, “Why don’t you guys do something?” As police heaved her into the back of the police wagon, the crowd erupted.
The Pride Parade, which takes place next Sunday in New York, has come to represent a day of celebration. But LGBT Americans still face discrimination and threats of violence. More than 1,000 hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation were reported to the FBI in 2017 — the third most common motivation after race and religion.
The National Urban League and other civil rights have joined with the Human Rights Campaign to support the Equality Act, legislation which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in a wide variety of areas. The bill has passed the House but is stalled in the Senate. In commemoration of Pride Month, call your senators at (202) 224–3121 and tell them to pass the Equality Act.
