Collective Community Statement 2021

The Coalition for Pulse: 5 Years Later

On June 12, the nation will mark five years since the tragedy in Orlando. This serves as a moment to reflect on the progress that has been made since the shooting, pause to honor the lives of the 49 people who were shot and killed and the many more forever changed, and recommit to honoring them with action. A coalition of organizations made up of QLatinx, The LGBT+ Center Orlando, the OnePulse Foundation, Equality Florida, Equality Federation Institute, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is teaming up to elevate events happening locally in Orlando and create opportunities for people to engage nationally in the remembrance, including a National Discussion on the tragedy at Pulse streaming on Facebook on June 12th at 5:00PM ET as well as National Moment of Silence on June 12 at 6:00pm ET. Your support would go an incredible way in ensuring the victims, survivors, and impacted community are not forgotten and reaffirming the nation’s commitment to creating a world free of the kind of violence that took place that night.

Gun safety is very clearly an LGBTQIA & Latinx issue, and the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub centered the inescapable reality of gun violence on the LGBTQIA community. Our commitment to action does not end with working to uproot the hatred displayed five years ago. We must also confront our country’s gun violence epidemic by demanding more than thoughts and prayers from our lawmakers. We need action now. 

From the tragedy at Pulse nightclub five years ago to the hundreds of transgender and gender non-conforming people killed by firearms over the last decade, to the heightened risk of suicide, especially among LGBTQIA youth, the LGBTQIA community uniquely experiences the gun violence epidemic in this country. Violent hatred towards the LGBTQIA community hasn’t gone away, and for some community members like transgender Black women, it continues to be an everyday threat. LGBTQIA voices are an essential part of the growing calls for action to make our country safer. 

Fifty-two years after Black and brown trans women led an uprising against police discrimination and violence at the Stonewall Inn, the LGBTQIA community — and especially trans people of color — are still the targets of hate-fueled violence, which often involves a gun. City gun violence, domestic violence, and gun suicide also devastate our community and is a public health crisis. The risk of gun suicide also disproportionately impacts LGBTQIA youth. 

As we think about the five-year mark of the shooting at Pulse nightclub, we must address all types of gun violence that affect the LGBTQIA community. Still, the numbers tell only a part of the story. We know behind the statistics and facts, there are survivors, families, friends, and communities forever impacted by this gun violence. It’s crystal clear that ending gun violence must include ending anti-LGBTQIA violence. 2020 was the deadliest year on record for transgender people, and so far in 2021, we have tracked more violent deaths of transgender and gender non-conforming people than we ever have by this point in the year  — this is unacceptable. 

We must work to keep LGBTQIA individuals safe from gun violence by taking strong action for change. Guns are the most frequently used weapon in the murder of trans people. In fact, two-thirds of trans people killed in the United States were killed with a gun. Black trans women account for the majority of homicide victims in the trans community. To put this into perspective, while Black people make up 16% of the trans population, 76% of known trans homicide victims over the studied period were Black. Gun violence also disproportionately impacts Latinx communities. Each year, 3,800 Latinx people die from gun violence in our country. Latinx people are twice as likely to be killed in a gun homicide as white people and are also more likely to be fatally shot by police. Honoring survivors of the Pulse shooting requires more than thoughts and prayers, we need inclusive and intersectional action to keep Latinx and LGBTQIA communities safe from hate-motivated violence in all forms. 

Five years later, we’re asking you to join together again to honor all of the victims, survivors, and first responders with a commitment to solidarity and action. 

In Solidarity, 

The Coalition for Pulse: 5 Years Later

• QLatinx
• The LGBT+ Center
• OnePulse Foundation
• Equality Florida, Equality Federation Institute
• Human Rights Campaign Foundation
• Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund

Organizations

Elected Officials