Video: Charlotte Black Pride and 41 local LGBTQ groups sign onto Black Lives Matter community letter

In case you missed it yesterday, you can still watch the Charlotte LGBTQ Community-wide Black Lives Matter press conference, recorded and live-streamed on Sunday, June 28, 2020, the 51st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots & Uprising.

Convened by Charlotte Black Pride, the press conference was an opportunity for LGBTQ community organizations in Charlotte to stand united in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. Each of the participating organizations signed onto a community letter calling for more accountability to the Black and LGBTQ community.

You can read the full letter and see the list of signatories below.

Charlotte Pride was honored to join Charlotte Black Pride in signing the letter and being present at the press conference on Sunday.

Many thanks to the board and volunteers of Charlotte Black Pride who provided leadership and direction for this important community event. Thanks also to Visual Sounds ASL LLC for their interpretation services and to the staff of Camp North End who allowed the late-notice use of an indoor facility due to rain chances on Sunday.

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#BlackLivesMatter
Charlotte’s LGBTQ Community Organizations
Stand United in Solidarity

The following statement has been signed by 41 LGBTQ and community non-profit organizations in Charlotte. A full list of signatories is included below this statement.

We believe Black Lives Matter. 

We know that Black people in this city, state, and country have been victimized by hundreds of years of systemic oppression and violence. This systemic racism and white supremacy has manifested itself in all areas of our society in various ways throughout history — in slavery, Jim Crow, the convict-leasing system, racist or xenophobic immigration policies, employment discrimination, housing discrimination, educational segregation, healthcare disparities, policing, and more.

As community organizations serving the entire LGBTQ community, our work is built on a legacy of human rights advocacy laid down by Black Americans, including Black LGBTQ visionaries. We know that the modern LGBTQ movement as we understand it today was founded by and informed by the work of Black and Latina Trans Women. We also know that our understanding of civil and human rights was guided by the work of Black people over centuries. Even today, we must acknowledge that the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision banning anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination is itself built on legacies of civil and human rights advocacy built by pioneers such as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his chief strategist, Bayard Rustin, an openly Black gay man.

Our LGBTQ organizations are intended to serve our entire community, including Black people. But the reality is, some organizations have fallen short. While many of our organizations have made strides in more inclusive and more intersectional community work, we acknowledge the myriad of ways we can continue to improve on our efforts to ensure that all voices — and especially the voices of Black LGBTQ people — are not only heard, but intimately valued and included in the work we do. We know that in order for every single person in our beautifully diverse community to experience true justice and peace, our organizations must be committed to ending racism, white supremacy, police brutality, transphobia and all other forms of oppression.

To that end, our organizations pledge to affirm and commit to the following:

• We commit to continuing or creating new opportunities for our organizations’ boards, staff, or volunteer teams to learn more about ending systemic racism, police brutality, transphobia and white supremacy.
• We commit to continuing or creating new ways to diversify our organizations’ boards, staffs and volunteer leadership teams.
• We commit to continuing or creating new and intentional changes to our marketing and communications efforts to ensure the voices and faces of all people in our community are represented in our work.
• We commit to continuing or creating new efforts to identify ways that our organizations’ services, programs and projects can be more directly accountable to and receive input, direction and leadership from the people we serve, including Black people.
• We commit to creating or utilizing existing and new sources of funding to ensure that we are generating accessible, intentional and uplifting programs for the Black community.
• We commit to be publicly accountable and transparent to our community for all of the above commitments.

Caldwell Presbyterian Church

Campus Pride

Carolinas CARE Partnership

Charlotte Black Pride

Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund

The Charlotte LGBT Chamber of Commerce

Charlotte LGBTQ Elders

Charlotte Pride

Charlotte Pride Band

Charlotte Royals Rugby Football Club

Charlotte Transgender Healthcare Group

The City Nation, Inc.

Destini Productions

Equality NC

The Freedom Center for Social Justice

Gay Men’s Chorus of Charlotte

Gender Education Network

Hearts Beat As One Foundation

HRC (Human Rights Campaign) – Charlotte

Lionel Lee Jr. Center for Wellness

MCC Charlotte

MeckPAC

Muslim Assoc. for Sexuality and Gender Diversity UNCC

North Carolina AIDS Action Network

One Voice Chorus

Pauli Murray LGBTQ+ Bar Association

PFLAG Charlotte

The Powerhouse Project

Primetimers of Charlotte

Queen City Prism

RAIN

Sacred Souls United Church of Christ

Stonewall Sports

There’s Still Hope

Time Out Youth

Transcend Charlotte

Twirl to the World Foundation

UNC Charlotte LGBTQ+ Staff and Faculty Caucus

UNC Charlotte Office of Identity, Equity, and Engagement

UNC Charlotte Dean of Students Office

Unity Fellowship Church of Charlotte