NCAVP Looks Toward Tomorrow and Beyond

November 10, 2016 - The last year has been challenging and heartbreaking for LGBTQ communities. We continued to see waves of anti-LGBTQ legislation pass in many states and cities across the country; we witnessed the horrific violence of the Pulse nightclub shooting, which claimed the lives of almost 50 LGBTQ people, most of whom were Latinx; and on the same day this country went to the polls to elect our next president, we learned of the homicide of Noony Norwood in Richmond, Virginia, marking the 23rd report of a homicide of a transgender or gender nonconforming person in 2016 and surpassing the tragic number of homicides that transgender and gender nonconforming communities experienced in 2015. We are still far from ending the discrimination and violence that LGBTQ communities- particularly LGBTQ communities of color, undocumented communities, incarcerated communities, and people with disabilities- experience every day in their workplaces, schools, relationships, and homes.

Yet through it all, the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP), which consists of over 50 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) anti-violence advocacy groups across the country, has mobilized LGBTQ communities: to increase our ability to support and care for each other, to ensure that the experiences and voices of everyone in our communities are witnessed and heard, and to advocate for the legal rights and protections of our communities. Our member programs supported thousands of LGBTQ survivors of violence, providing counseling, legal services, housing, healthcare advocacy, and other services.

We spoke out against Islamophobia and xenophobia in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting. We denounced police violence against people of color and transgender and gender nonconforming people. We spoke the names of all of the transgender and gender nonconforming people that we lost to hate violence and intimate partner violence. We advocated to defeat anti-LGBTQ legislation and to support those who have been impacted. We supported the efforts of the Black Lives Matter movement, Native and indigenous communities at Standing Rock, and undocumented communities, and continued to challenge ourselves to ensure that we are acting in solidarity with other social justice movements.

We know that this work is not over. Now more than ever in light of the results of the presidential election, we are committed to speaking out against injustice and to caring for those in our communities who have experienced violence and discrimination.

All of us in the LGBTQ and allied communities can lead the way:

Support one another and be vigilant about calling attention to violence in all its forms. So often anti-LGBTQ hate and discrimination, bias-motivated violence, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence go underreported, not reported, or unseen and erased entirely. We must call attention to these insidious forms of violence in order to provide support and prevent future occurrences and ensure that all survivors have access to affirming services and support.

Remain in solidarity with all anti-violence allied movements. We cannot have a single-issue focus in a multi-issue world. We must continue to come together with our collective power and say enough: no more will we allow anyone to face such heinous acts of violence. We must better articulate that our movement is inclusive of the immigrant rights movement, the disability justice movement, the movement for Black lives, the women' s movement, the racial justice movement, the movement for safe and affordable healthcare, and the economic justice movement in every small town and major city in this nation. To this end we must always seek out and support leadership from those among us that are most impacted by violence, particularly people of color, transgender, gender non-conforming people, people with disabilities, and undocumented communities.

As we continue to look toward tomorrow and beyond, we know we are all individually part of something much larger than ourselves. We live at the intersections of all oppression and must continue to move LGBTQ survivors from the margins to the center. We are not alone. Remaining steadfast in solidarity with one another, we draw upon these connections for hope and action. We will work tirelessly, continuously moving ourselves toward the fight for justice and acceptance everywhere. This week, we are tested again, as we have been so many countless times before, and just as many of us feel drained, tired, and overwhelmed, may we all find that our capacity to love and to care may well be limitless.

NCAVP works to prevent, respond to, and end all forms of violence against and within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and HIV-affected communities. NCAVP is a national coalition of local member programs and affiliate organizations who create systemic and social change. NCAVP is a program of the New York City Anti-Violence Project. For more information, or to locate an anti-violence program in your area, please contact us at info@ncavp.org or visit us online.