Pride Month and Black Trans Lives Matter

Today's guest hosts are Edwith Theogene and Charlotte Hancock, Organizing Director and Communications Director for Generation Progress.

During today's episode, they discuss Pride Month, which takes place this and every June. Pride Month is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ community and reflect on what has been done, and what still must be done, to achieve full equality. Pride also commemorates the Stonewall Riots of June 1969, which were led by trans women of color in response to police violence towards LGBTQ+ patrons at the Stonewall Inn. This Pride month in particular feels extremely significant for a few reasons. One reason is that the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that Tile VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ+ workers from workplace discrimination, which means it is illegal to discriminate against or fire employees for their sexual orientation or gender identity. The case will also give LGBTQ+ people and advocates stronger legal standing when it comes to addressing discrimination in other institutions or services.

The other reason is because massive numbers of Americans across the country have taken to the streets in recent weeks to demand an end to systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence against Black Americans. Black members of the LGBTQ+ community—particularly Black trans women—have been especially vulnerable to violence, and their murders and disappearances are too often forgotten or glossed over by local and national media. Consequently, we have seen a push during this Pride month especially to recall the history of Pride, which began with riots against police violence led by trans women of color, in order to emphatically state that Black trans lives matter.

To talk with Edwith and Charlotte more about Pride month, the Black Lives Matter movement, and more, they’re joined by Nadine Smith, the Executive Director of Equality Florida, and Dr. Lourdes Ashley Hunter, the Executive Director of the Trans Women of Color Collective.

Here are the Twitter handles for today's guests and their respective organizations: Nadine Smith - @1NadineSmith, Equality Florida - @equalityfl, Dr. Lourdes Ashley Hunter - @HunterLourdes, Trans Women of Color Collective - @twoccnyc.

The website for "Generation Progress" is www.GenProgress.org and their Twitter Handle is @GenProgress. Edwith Theogene's handle is @WhoIsEdwith and Charlotte Hancock's handle is @CharlatAnne.