How to Show Your Support for the LGBTQ Community
The shooting at Club Q, a gay and lesbian nightclub in Colorado Springs marks the sixth mass killing this month where five were killed and 18 others wounded. However, this isn’t the first time members of the LGBTQ community have been targeted. In 2016, 49 people were killed at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub shooting in Orlando, which Biden called “the deadliest attack affecting the LGBTQI+ community in American history.”
For some, especially members of the LGBTQ community, it’s easy to see how these recent events can be triggering and elicit a feeling of hopelessness. But, now more than ever, we all need to come together and show our support for our LGBTQ friends and family. There are a number of organizations you can get involved with. If you’re looking for a place to start, read the below for ways you can show your support to those most impacted by this tragedy.
The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people. Offering resources such as crisis services, public education, and TrevorSpace, a supportive online community for LGBTQ youth, The Trevor Project has changed and saved numerous lives. For more resources, they offer helpful guides on how to be an ally and have many ways for you to get involved or show your support, whether through donations, fundraising, corporate sponsorships, or volunteering. For more information, visit their website here.
Human Rights Campaign
For more than 40 years, Human Rights Campaign has created a powerful movement for equality with the goal of ensuring that all LGBTQ+ people, and particularly those who are trans, people of color, and HIV+, are treated as full and equal citizens around the world. As of today, the HRC has three million plus members and supporters. To add your name to the growing list, you can get involved by becoming a member, staying up-to-date with HRC by signing up for their newsletter and attending local events in your area. These are a great way to find those connections while also playing a role in growing a national movement to secure LGBTQ+ equality. For more information, visit their website, here.
Anti-Violence Project
The Anti-Violence Project (AVP) empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and HIV-affected communities and allies to end all forms of violence through organizing and education, and supports survivors through counseling and advocacy. It started in 1980, in response to a series of brutal attacks against gay men and has since grown to the largest anti-LGBTQ violence organization in the country. The AVP is always looking for donations, or if you’re looking to take a more active role, volunteers. Members and volunteers can participate in different organizing and advocacy campaigns such as bathroom access for trans and gender non-conforming New Yorkers, building the sex worker resource center, and ending police violence. For more information, visit their website, here.
GLAAD
GLAAD is the world’s largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization tasked with increasing media accountability that ensures authentic LGBTQ stories are seen, heard, and actualized, according to its website. They offer a number of resources on LGBTQ inclusion in entertainment, learning more about the impacts of HIV and COVID in the U.S., and surveys on American acceptance and attitudes towards LGBTQ Americans. To show your support, there are a number of ways you can donate or you can take action by joining the GLAAD hub where they share news and updates.
PFLAG
Last but certainly not least, PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), founded in 1973, is the first and largest organization dedicated to supporting, educating, and advocating for LGBTQ+ people and their families. PFLAG’s network of hundreds of chapters and more than 325,000 members and supporters work to create a caring, just, and affirming world for LGBTQ+ people and those who love them, according to its website. To show and find support, PFLAG always accepts donations and encourages people to become members. And with its array of chapters, those looking for peer-to-peer support services can easily find them, here.
