Four Ways to Support the Black LGBT+ Community during Pride Month

The beginning of June marked the start of Pride month. Pride this year is remarkably different–the usual parades and festivities that frequent cities like New York and San Francisco have been canceled due to the pandemic. This June is instead marked by international protests advocating for racial justice and an end to police brutality. This pride month, it is especially essential to address the needs of and support the black LGBT+ community, who are more at risk of police violence, economic inequality, and acquiring HIV than their white counterparts. The recent death of Tony McDade, a black trans man killed by police in late May has exemplified how the deaths of black LGBT+ people are often unaddressed or unreported by the media, and how urgent it is to address this issue.

Learn about the Injustices that Black LGBT+ People Face

Below, I provide four ways that allies can support the black LGBT+ community during pride month. While this is not a complete list, this may be a start for those who are unsure of how to be involved.

Black LGBT+ people, specifically black trans women face disproportionate rates of violence. In order for there to be LGBT+ equality, there must also be racial justice and an end to police brutality and resources must be allocated to address the violence that black trans women face on account of being both black and trans.

According to the Human Rights Campaign, 26 transgender people were murdered by violent means in 2019in the U.S. Ninety-one percent of these people were black trans women. Black transgender people also face higher rates of incarceration and police brutality compared to other groups–38% of black trans people who have had interactions with police have reported harassment. This rate is increased for those who work as sex workers, as 53% of black trans sex workers face harassment or violence from police. In addition to this, 21% of black trans women will face incarceration during their lifetimes, compared to only 0.5% of white cisgender women. 

For more information, this study from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey has a comprehensive review of the violence that transgender sex workers of color experience. 

Redistribute Funds

If you have the means right now, donating to the black LGBT+ community is an incredible way to support those disproportionately impacted by police violence who face discrimination both on the basis of being black and on the basis of being LGBT+, specifically at the intersection of these two identities. 

This article from Vice has a comprehensive list of organizations that support black trans people, including The Okra Project, which delivers meals to black trans people around the country, and For the Gworls, which raises funds to assist black trans people with rent and gender-affirming surgeries, among other organizations. 

You can also donate to Tony McDade’s memorial fund, which will help his family cover burial and funeral expenses, as well as any other needs. Iyana Dior, a black trans woman from Minneapolis was attacked by a group of cisgender men last week, and you can donate to support her here.  If you want to redistribute funds to other black LGBT+ people directly, this twitter thread has the Venmo and Cashapp accounts of black LGBT+ people and other organizations you can support, and this GoFundMe provides resources for homeless black trans women. 

Educate Yourself on the History of the Community

There would be no pride without the radical work of trans and gender non-conforming people of color. 

The Stonewall Riots of 1969, one of the most prolific moments of the LGBT+ rights movement, was a riot against police violence towards LGBT+ people in New York City after police raided the Stonewall Inn and arrested trans and gender non-conforming people. While accounts of what exactly happened at Stonewall are conflicting, some historical accounts suggest that Stormé Delaverie, a black butch lesbian, is widely credited with throwing the first punch at Stonewall after repeatedly escaping efforts to arrest her. Other influential actors at the riots were that of Marsha P. Johnson, a black drag queen, Sylvia Rivera, a Latina trans woman, and Miss Major, a black trans woman. These women were advocates for trans women of color and the LGBT+ community at large for their entire lives, yet they are often erased in historical retellings of Stonewall in the media.

It is essential that people learn about the history and advocacy work of trans people of color throughout history, and how violence against the black LGBT+ community, especially from police, has been happening for decades. The hyperlinks to each woman’s name includes more information on the lifetimes of advocacy work they carried out and how to become involved with supporting them and their legacies.

Support Black LGBT+ Media

Recently, the stories of black LGBT+ people have been featured more in the media after centuries of being silenced. 

It is essential that black voices, especially black LGBT+ voices are supported and amplified in the media, so young, queer, black people can finally see themselves represented as whole, dynamic characters in film and not simply a tokenized side character or victims to violence. Below are a few influential films that center the experiences of queer, black people and the experience of existing at the intersection of these identities. 

Moonlight (available on Netflix), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2016 follows the life of Chiron, a black boy living in Miami who comes to term with his sexuality while simultaneously dealing with the pressures of masculinity placed on a black man. The film, directed by Barry Jenkins, is based off of the semi autobiographical play by Tarell Alvin McCraney In Moonlight, Black Boys Look Blue.

Pariah (2011), available on Amazon Video, is a critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical film directed by Dee Rees detailing the experience of a young black lesiban coming to terms with her sexuality. 

Rafiki (2018) from Kenyan director Wanuri Kahiu follows the love story of two young black women in Kenya, where being gay is illegal. The film was critically acclaimed despite the fact that it was initially banned from being released in Kenya, until the director sued the Kenya Film Classification Board so that the film could be screened in its home country. 

The documentary Paris is Burning (available on Netflix) follows the lives of trans and gender nonconforming people of color (mostly black and Latinx people) during the Ball scene in Harlem in the 1980s. While this documentary has been renowned in the LGBT+ community for shining a light on one of the most important yet overlooked movements, the documentary carries controversy and a dark history. Its white director profited significantly yet did not pay many of the women of color featured, despite profiting off of their lived experience, and the fact that many of them were living in poverty while the documentary was filmed.

It is essential to celebrate and understand the experiences of black LGBT+ people, to advocate for policies that protect them and to dismantle the systems that cause them violence. These are only four of the innumerable ways to fight for equal justice for the black LGBT+ community during pride month.