AUSTIN, TX – Transgender Awareness Week 2022, November 13 – 19, is a celebratory time to uplift and empower transgender voices that ends with Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20. Tragically, today we are met with yet another devastating reminder of the very real threats facing the LGBTQ+ community in this country, following the overnight shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs that was hosting a drag show.
This should be a clear indication to politicians who choose to continue to target and discriminate against the transgender community, especially with legislation that targets transgender children, that their actions and rhetoric can have horrifying consequences.
Texas Freedom Network will work tirelessly to protect our children’s freedom to live their lives fully and authentically.
Texas Freedom Network Organizing Director Adri Pérez (they/them/elle) issued the following statement:
“Today is Transgender Day of Remembrance – a day where we remember those we’ve lost to anti-transgender bigotry and violence, including the five people who were taken from us just last night in the hateful attack in Colorado Springs.
“We are called today to remember how important it is that we continue to fight for justice for the transgender community, even as we grieve for the lives lost mere hours ago. Our community is strong, we are brave, we are resilient. Even as we mourn this senseless atrocity, we are reminded of the courage of our community, embodied by the club patrons who tackled last night’s shooter when he entered the venue, putting their lives on the line to protect others and assuredly preventing even more loss of life.
“Transgender people deserve the freedom live our lives without the fear of violence hanging over us whenever we leave our homes. And trans children deserve the freedom to live their lives fully and authentically, knowing that they can safely be themselves.
“The transgender community should be celebrated and loved, not targeted by our laws, lawmakers, and hateful acts of violence. We should love our neighbors for who they are, and we should seek to understand them with compassionate hearts.
“Passing anti-transgender legislation, stoking fear, and spreading falsehoods about the LGBTQ+ community only serve the narrow political interests of an extremist minority. The rhetoric and ideology that surrounds these laws leads inevitably to the kind of violence we saw last night. It must stop. As a society, we must strive to rise above these prejudices and recognize we all deserve the freedom to live happy, fulfilling lives.”
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The Texas Freedom Network (tfn.org) is a grassroots organization of religious and community leaders and young Texans building an informed and effective movement for equality and social justice.
