Roosevelt Must-Reads: We Need to Fight for the LBGTQIA+ Community Every Day, of Every Month, of Every Year

As we head into the last week of Pride 2019, I find myself torn between celebration and frustration. While it is exciting to see rainbows covering everything in sight, it’s a bit disappointing to think about how many companies believe that marketing for Pride is the end all be all of supporting the LGBTQIA+ community. The NYC Pride parade has now become a long line of corporate floats—a far stretch from its origins as a protest for gay rights. If the official NYC Pride parade has become too commercial for your taste, consider joining the Queer Liberation March on June 30th instead. In the New York Times, Bill Dobbs, one of the organizers of the competing procession, emphasizes that “[t]heir march stands for corporate pride and the status quo. Ours stands for change.”

We absolutely still need to actively fight for change. With an average life expectancy in the mid-30s, trans women of color exist at the intersection of a number of identities that put them at extreme risk. We have already lost at least 10 transgender people to violence this year, including at least 4 during Pride month alone. The Washington Post spoke to activist Ruby Corado about the rise of violence against the most vulnerable in the LGBTQIA+ community and the need to speak up about it. And our voices continue to grow. This week Janet Mock, director, producer, and writer of “Pose,” made history as the first out transgender woman ever to sign a production contract with a major content company. Netflix has given Mock the opportunity to tell more stories that center around the LGBTQIA+ community and give us all the visibility that we have been starved for both in front of and behind the scenes of media and major corporations—beyond the month of June.