“No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us.” – Marsha P. Johnson

(Photo courtesy of Germany-based artist and IOYS Guest Qrator Se, with offerings to those killed at the hands of white supremacy and including images of Michael Brown, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Renisha McBride, Aiyana Jones, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and Tamir Rice. View the post on Instagram)

The LGBTQ+ rights movement started when Black and Brown transgender women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera confronted police brutality by rioting at the Stonewall Inn.
 
Today, our liberation movement continues to be led by Black, Brown, and youth activists like those in the Black Lives Matters movement centering issues such as racial injustice, police brutality, LGBTQ+ and human rights.

We are outraged by the deaths of those who have been killed at the hands of white supremacy including George Floyd, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, David McAtee, Michael Brown, Renisha McBride, Aiyana Jones, Tamir Rice, and locally, De’Von Bailey, Jessie Hermandez, Josh Vigil, and Desmond Hayes. And so many others.
 
We recognize that racism and transphobia have been advanced within our own LGBTQ+ community causing harm and trauma to communities of color and transgender people. We recognize that we must do better to align our cause to build equality for all and prevent this list of names from growing. We must invest in anti-violence and healing our communities. 

Inside Out Youth Services continues to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and affirms our commitment to raise our voices and take action for collective liberation and ending of police and racial violence against Black people, Black youth, and the Black trans community.
 
Black Lives Matter.
 
Black Trans Lives Matter.

Young Black Lives Matter.
 
Together, it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on anti-racism and liberation. We must trust, follow, and support Black leaders and advocates in the fight for justice. We must invest our time, money, and effort in supporting collective liberation and ending racism in all forms. James Baldwin reminds us that “it is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.”
 
To that end, there are many resources and actions we can take to fight racial injustice:

EDUCATE YOURSELF

1. Read books to learn why and how we must be anti-racist from Ibram X. Kendi’s Anti-Racist reading list.
2. Read the Trans Agenda for Liberation and support the agenda.

DONATE

1. Support the Pikes Peak Chapter of the NAACP by mailing a check to: NAACP Colorado Springs Branch, PO Box 2259, Colorado Springs, CO 80901. 
2. Support Inside Out Youth Services and our work toward liberation for all LGBTQ+ youth. 
3. Listen to this playlist by Zoe Amira, which donates all money received from YouTube advertisements to organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement.
4. Support the LGBTQ+ Bail Out Fund to support protesters.