Advertisement

LGBT Organizations Declare: ‘Trayvon Martin Deserves Justice’

A coalition of LGBT rights groups, including the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and the Human Rights Campaign, have issued a letter declaring solidarity with Travyon Martin’s family and friends. The letter demands justice for him and justice in his name, highlighting that many marginalized communities continue to be targeted for who they are:

Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights. We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected. But our work does not end there: we will honor Trayvon Martin by strengthening our commitment to end bias, hatred, profiling and violence across our communities.

We represent organizations with diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituencies. Our community has been targets of bigotry, bias, profiling and violence. We have experienced the heart-breaking despair of young people targeted for who they are, who they are presumed to be, or who they love: Rashawn Brazell, Lawrence King, Ali Forney, Brandon Teena, Brandon White, Matthew Shepard, Marco McMillian, Angie Zapata, Sakia Gunn, Gwen Araujo and countless others.

Every person, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, must be able to walk the streets without fear for their safety.

Advertisement

Read the full letter and see its many signatories.