GLMA Statement on Racism and Racial Violence
 

GLMA stands in solidarity with the Black community and the calls to end racism, racial violence and police brutality that have resounded across the nation over the last several days. We condemn George Floyd’s murder and demand those responsible be held accountable for their actions.

Racially motivated violence, whether at the hands of the police or others, is not new to this country, and sadly what happened to George Floyd is not isolated. The statement GLMA joined with more than 500 LGBTQ organizations recounts several racially motivated incidents and killings in just the last few months, including a dozen murders of Black transgender people this year alone.

We state unequivocally that Black Lives—and Black LGBTQ Lives—Matter.

This is a pivotal moment for our nation, our LGBTQ movement and our organization. Our institutions of power and governance that were built on systemic racism and that promote and support injustice against Black people must be reshaped.

As a movement, we must listen to and take our lead from Black LGBTQ leaders, whose voices must be front and center, especially in this moment of urgency and crisis.

These words must be accompanied by action, and GLMA must show up in ways we haven’t previously for Black communities, especially Black LGBTQ communities. GLMA’s work must center the experiences of Black LGBTQ people and other people of color in our efforts to achieve LGBTQ health equity. We must break down the organizational barriers that stand in the way of these goals. We must ensure queer people of color in the health professions are leading this work.

In March 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. famously stated that “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” Fighting this injustice is at the core of GLMA's work.  It is not easy work, and there is a long road ahead for ALL OF us. But achieving these goals are essential if GLMA is to be an organization that lives up to its ideals and contributes to the paradigm shift we need in the US.

For now, we look across the country today with heavy hearts for those who have lost their lives, outrage at the systems of white supremacy that enabled their deaths, and firm resolve that this moment results in the change needed to establish—as Nadine Smith described during the LGBTQ Black Lives Matter Town Hall earlier this week—a truly “multiracial, equitable society where there is a place for everyone.”