ILGA NORTH AMERICA URGES TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST RACIAL INJUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES AND GLOBALLY
ILGA North America is joining organisations in the United States and across the region in condemning racial injustice and police brutality, and is calling for transformative action to heal societies from discrimination – in the country and across the world.
“The incidents that have happened during the past few days in the United States have tragically shown the whole world how deeply racism is consuming our societies. No one should tolerate it any longer, nor assume they are allowed to look elsewhere,” said Kimberly Frost and Stephen Seaborn, co-Chairs of the regional branch of The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, representing dozens of LGBTI organisations from across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
“The violence that has erupted over the past few days in the United States is a consequence of centuries of institutionalised racism,” Frost and Seaborn continue. “If the whole world has been moulded to mirror and benefit only one part of the population, how can our society be just? With studies showing that a black man in the U.S. has an estimated 1 in 1,000 chance of being killed by police during his lifetime – 2.5 times the odds for a non-Hispanic white man – how can we continue to ignore that inequalities have broken our societies to the core?”.
This epidemic of injustice goes well beyond the United States. Worldwide, there is repeated evidence of police violently trampling the rights of people in marginalised communities. Racism and, in essence, hostility towards minorities are entrenched in societies globally: the world would have realised, had it cared to listen to the voices which keep being pushed to the margins.
This is something that LGBTIacronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Although this is not the acronym available to describe people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics, it is the most commonly used in United Nations spaces and advocacy. More communities know all too well: laws criminalising our loves, limiting our genderrefers to a social construct which places cultural and social expectations on individuals based on their assigned sex. More expressions or policing our bodies are vastly a remnant of centuries-old white colonial rules. The discriminationunequal or unfair treatment which can be based on a range of grounds - such as age, ethnic background, disability, and diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions or sex characteristics, amongst others. More we face for being who we are intersects with other aspects of our identities –be them race, gender, economic status, immigration status, religion, age, and many more – often with deadly consequences.
Over the past few days alone, a Black transadjective/umbrella term to describe a person whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. More man was killed by the police in the United States: his name was Tony McDade. A gayadjective to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/ or emotional
attractions are to people of the same gender. Men, women and non-binary people may use this
term to describe themselves. More Black man, Christian Cooper, had to defend himself from a woman who threatened to call the police on him – all he was doing, in fact, was birdwatching. Every week we mourn the death of trans women across the globe – one violent incident after another. Similar crimes keep happening too frequently, and often without the public outcry that our cisgendera person whose gender identity is the same as the sex they were assigned at birth. The term is commonly used to refer to a person who does not identify as trans. More and/or heteronormative siblings receive.
As we start celebrating Pride Month, we should remind ourselves where Pride came from: a reaction to police brutality. It was an uprising, a moment when a whole community gathered collective strength and refused to keep living in fear.
There has always been widespread racism as well in the queerpreviously used as a derogatory term to refer to LGBT individuals in the English language – and still perceived as offensive by some - queer has been reclaimed by people who identify beyond traditional gender categories and heteronormative social norms. Although not universally accepted, it is often used as a catch-all to include many people within the larger community of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. More movement: LGBTI communities and organisations, much like everybody else, have the duty to educate themselves, unlearn racist patterns and speak up. Embracing anti-racism, and committing to end white supremacy, must be an integral part of our path towards full equality.
