LGBT Advocacy Groups issue letter in support of slain Missouri teenager Michael Brown

18 year old Michael Brown

LGBT advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign, The Trevor Project, GLAAD, Center for Black Equity, Inc., PFLAG National and more have issued a statement in support of slain Missouri teenager Michael Brown and his family.

The shooting death of Brown has inflamed racial tensions across the country. The letter calls for a swift and thorough investigation.

When communities experience fear, harassment and brutality simply because of who they are or how they look, we are failing as a nation. In light of the recent events in Missouri, it is clearer than ever that there is something profoundly wrong in our country.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled.

The LGBT community stands with the family of Michael Brown, who was gunned down in Ferguson, Missouri. We stand with the mothers and fathers of young Black men and women who fear for the safety of their children each time they leave their homes. We call on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this story and others like it--racialized killings that have marred this nation since the beginning of its history. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation.

At this moment, we are inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies ... but the silence of our friends.”

The letter is signed by the following:

ACLU
AIDS United
Center for Black Equity, Inc.
Courage Campaign
Equality Federation
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
GLAAD
GMHC
GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality Human Rights Campaign
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) PFLAG National
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO
Soulforce
Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
Trans People of Color Coalition
Transgender Law Center
Trevor Project