Officially, June is "Pride Month" but in reality, the LGBTQ+ members of our community have enough pride to fill every day of the calendar. Since
last year's Pride,
we've seen some incredible groundbreaking advances in the fight for equality all over the world. These events, rulings, and laws would have been impossible to even imagine just a decade ago.
There is so much to be proud of — our rainbow of diversity, our love, and victories over adversity. In the United States,
Pete Buttigieg became the first openly gay man to run for president. Germany passed a national law allowing a third gender option on official documents. Countries as diverse as Trinidad and Tobago and
Angola have decriminalized homosexuality, while
Taiwan became the first nation in Asia to legalize gay marriage.
But the fight for equal rights is not over. Despite all of these milestones, there are still a host of threats, both legal and physical, that members of the LGBTQ+ community face every day. Governments have outright targeted gays, lesbians, trans folks and others because of who they are and who they love. And there is still a long road ahead before true equality is ever reached.
In the U.S.,
trans women — especially trans women of color — face more violence and hate on a daily basis than possibly any other community. Since 2013, 95% of the 128 trans people killed in the US were women and of those, nearly 80% were women of color. Women like Chynal Lindsey and Muhlaysia Booker, who were murdered in the span of a few weeks in the same city this year.
The tiny nation of
Brunei passed a law that requires anyone "guilty" of having same-sex sexual relationships to be stoned to death in accordance with strict Sharia law.
And in Brazil, newly-elected
president Bolsonaro ostensibly ran on a right-wing, anti-gay platform. Similar to the rise in hate crimes against minorities in the U.S. after Trump, attacks against gays, lesbians and other members of the community in Brazil have also risen. In fact, according to the Washington Post, at least three trans women were stabbed to death by men yelling Bolsonaro's name.
Clearly, the LGBTQ+ community still has a long fight ahead, but together we can make a difference, work to strengthen LGBTQ+ rights, and safeguard members of the community from violence.
That's why members of Care2's LGBTQ+ community and our allies have launched the Pride Pledge. We are asking you to join us by signing this petition along with us. Over the next several weeks, you will receive petitions to help fight against injustices that are happening every day against vulnerable members of our society across the globe. So, are you ready to make a difference? Please sign to fight for justice!
