(Above photo courtesy Contigo Fund)
ORLANDO | A Black Lives Matter demonstration rally, planned by members of Central Florida’s black LGBTQ community, in support of the national action led by the Trans People of Color Coalition will take place in front of Orlando’s City Hall today starting at 1 p.m.
The rally is meant to draw attention to the shooting of Tony McDade, a trans man killed by police in Tallahassee May 27, and the countless other black trans people kill in the U.S. every year.
“This demonstration to me means another foot in the right direction to making everyone feel included”, says Central Florida trans activist and community leader Mulan Williams. “Being trans I sometimes feel abandoned and pushed to the side in all communities but today this demonstration gives me hope for change. It’s giving me joy to know we can all come together as one and fight for justice and peace for all.”
According to research by the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), trans women of color are four times more likely to experience unemployment than the general population, are twice as likely to live in extreme poverty compared to other transgender individuals and four times more likely than the cisgender black population.
In response to these numbers and the need for support within the black trans community, the Contigo Fund announced it will launch All Black Lives Fund.
The program will “dedicate funding and resources to frontline LGBTQ organizing groups and efforts that are black LGBTQ led in Central Florida to build on the movement for black lives — particularly those led by and for black transgender, gender nonconforming and gender nonbinary community and sex workers. The Fund will support grassroots organizing to build visibility and power, promote safety, and amplify demands of those most impacted by both anti-Black racism and gender discrimination,” Contigo Fund stated in a press release.
For more information or to donate to All Black Lives Fund, go here.
