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http://bit.ly/BlackTransandQueerLivesMatter• FROM THE SUPPORTERS of #BLACKTRANSLIVESMATTER #BLACKQUEERLIVESMATTER #BLACKLIVESMATTER •
Black TQBLGIA+ people face targeting for rampant state/vigilante/police violence and hatred in devastating numbers. We, the undersigned, are choosing to amplify marginalized and effectively silenced black TQBLGIA+ voices by combining our efforts to encourage more media coverage of these deadly urgent truths. We fully support the #BLACKTRANSLIVESMATTER #BLACKQUEERLIVESMATTER #BLACKLIVESMATTER movement.
THE LIFE EXPECTANCY of BLACK TRANSGENDER WOMEN is 35 YEARS.
Feel free to send us your directly related POC LGBTQ links and information to add to this statement. Simply, place the information in the form below.
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We, the undersigned members of the Black TQBLGIA+ (Transgender, Queer, Bisexual, Lesbian, Gay, Intersex, and Asexual) community and our nonBlack allies of all orientations, stand in solidarity with all oppressed people of color to bring attention to the immediate health pandemic of hate violence that disproportionately effects black people and rages unaddressed in the USA.
The targeting of Black people (including Black TQBLGIA+) for hate violence is directly connected to the historical oppression of Black communities in the United States through slavery, racial segregation, Jim Crow laws, and the high rates of police profiling and incarceration of Black people. Disproportionate levels of poverty, police brutality, TQBLGIA+ hate violence, unemployment, and rampant discrimination faced by Black communities continue to this day. Violence based upon race, gender and sexuality is a recognized national public health issue that requires our immediate attention.
We applaud the work done by The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs to document multi-year trends in anti-TQBLGIA+ hate violence and homicides. Their 2014 Release Edition Report (2013 data) confirms the disproportionate targeting of Black TQBLGIA+. The overwhelming majority of homicide victims (78%), were Black and African American. Almost three-quarters (72%) of homicide victims were transgender women, and more than two-thirds (67%) of homicide victims were transgender women of color. Black TQBLGIA+ survivors were 1.4 times more likely to experience physical violence and 2.0 times more likely to require medical attention as a result of hate violence - demonstrating the physical impact of the intersection of racism, homophobia, transphobia, and bi-phobia. "What emerges clearly in the findings of this year's report is that many of the people at risk for the most severe hate violence are at the intersection of multiple forms of oppression and discrimination including racism and citizenship status".
"Anti-TQBLGIA+ hate violence can no longer be viewed in isolation from other forms of violence that our community members are experiencing based on their identities." Black TQBLGIA+ identities experience more severe and deadly forms of violence (including police violence) while simultaneously having less access to anti-violence services and support. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) findings released December 17th, 2014 highlight a particular concern about the young age of transgender victims. According to the data collected in the Registry of Violence, eighty percent of transgender persons killed were 35 years of age or younger. Black transgender women and other gender non-conforming persons are often targeted by law enforcement agents, who tend to act upon prejudice and assume they are criminals; and are often discriminated against in the justice system. In the majority of cases, particularly killings, there is little or no data regarding the perpetrators of violence against Black TQBLGIA+ persons. Fewer Black TQBLGIA+ survivors are reporting hate violence to the police, and those reporting are being met with increased police hostility. The IACHR report confirmed that there is severe underreporting regarding instances of anti-TQBLGIA+ police abuse, such as torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, and verbal and physical attacks.
We call for support of the tangible solutions/recommendations for justice and progress for all Black Lives that are being made by the following groups:
• The #BlackLivesMatter Demands (
http://blacklivesmatter.tumblr.com and
http://blacklivesmatter.com/demands)
• The #BlackLivesMatter State of The Black Union (
http://blacklivesmatter.com/state-of-the-black-union/)
(
http://blacktranswomenslivesmatter.blogspot.com/)
• The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (
http://www.avp.org/storage/documents/2013_ncavp_hvreport_final.pdf)
• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) Anti-LGBTQIA Hate Violence (
http://bit.ly/1HBf9ec)
• Danette Chavis’ Petition to United States Attorney General Eric Holder for National Action Against Police Brutality
• Black Trans Women's Lives Matter (
https://www.change.org/p/national-action-against-police-brutality)
• Black Transwomen Inc (
http://www.blacktranswomen.org/)
• The Ferguson Demands (
http://www.thedemands.org)
• The QTPOC Liberation Demands (
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/mourning-fighting-for-black-lives-in-the-lgbt-movement)
We call for support of these efforts to adopt measures to prevent, investigate, punish and provide reparations concerning these acts of violence, including measures to address the underlying causes fueling this violence. For this purpose, we are also urging a federal process to produce additional data on police, vigilante and hate violence against Black TQBLGIA+ people, with a view to adopt public policies that truly serve to protect our human rights.
We welcome everyone to join us and our nonBlack allies as we move forward together to evolve our species beyond the roadblock of species defeatist pathologies that ultimately endanger us all. Please feel free to add your individual or collective support to this statement, by signing and sharing it with others. We also encourage you to mount a visibility and voice campaign with rallies, teach-ins, vigils, exhibits and more to make certain that Black TQBLGIA+ lives - among the most under siege in our community - are given justice and respect as well.
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PLEASE SIGN BELOW TO BE ADDED TO THIS #BlackLivesMatter BLACK LGBTQIA and ALLY SOLIDARITY STATEMENT.
