TACL is proud to stand with our LGBT community in celebrating Pride Month.

That this year’s Pride Month should be ushered in amidst shouts of “Black Lives Matter” is a poignant reminder of the particularly important role that the Black community has played in the fight for LGBT rights. 

Fifty-one years ago at the Stonewall Inn, it was women and transwomen of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Stormé DeLarverie, and Sylvia Rivera, who led the rebellion against a homophobic and transphobic police force. 

The Stonewall riots, which lasted several days, would eventually give rise to the formation of the first gay rights organizations and the first organized pride parades in the country.

Yet, while we celebrate the great strides that have been made in LGBT rights, we must also recognize that the transgender community, in particular trans women of color, continue to be killed at alarming rates, with no signs of abatement. 

The Human Rights Campaign reported that in 2019, at least 26 transgender women or gender non-conforming people were murdered, and out of that, at least 20 were Black. In 2017 and 2018, they also tracked similar numbers.

In 2020, the death toll has already reached at least 12.

This month, in order to show solidarity with and raise awareness of the struggles of the most marginalized within the LGBT community, we are adding white, light blue, pink, black, and brown to the traditional rainbow colors on our Pride logo. 

#2020Pride