VivirLatino

*Reclaim Safety with ALP and CUAV on December 8^th !*

/LGBTSTGNC People from the Bay to Brooklyn Create Community Solutions to Violence/

*We are mourning the tragic deaths of 15-year-old African American
Jaysen Mattison in Baltimore and 19-year-old Puerto Rican Jorge Steven López Mercado in Puerto Rico, and the countless others we have lost to hate violence.* Our sorrow and outrage go out to their families and communities: we know Jaysen and Jorge were taken from you too soon. We recognize that there is a war against low-income, immigrant, and LGBTSTGNC (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Two- Spirit, Trans, and Gender Non-Conforming) People of Color, and that our people are meeting early deaths at the hands of hatred, abuse, neglect, and oppression.

*Unfortunately, the recent passing of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, the nation’s first ever federal LGBTSTGNC-inclusive hate crimes bill, will not stop the violence we face.* The bill:

*Provides no funding or resources to actually prevent
violence*, but instead gives $5 million to expand the powers of local
police and the FBI to investigate and prosecute incidences of hate violence.

*Strengthens a criminal “justice” system* that funnels
more and more poor people and people of color into prisons and away from our families.

*Supports the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan* as part
of the larger Defense Authorization Act, which allocated $130 billion to military efforts instead of to education, jobs, housing, and healthcare.

*Reaffirms the idea that safety comes through more police and more people in prison*, instead of by addressing the real
needs of survivors of violence, people who have been violent, and the communities affected.

*We believe that we can create our own safety.* We desire and demand solutions that challenge the real causes of violence: homophobia, transphobia, and economic injustice. As we demand the basic necessities that we need to survive—jobs, housing, healthcare, and education—we know that we must create real ways for communities to respond to and prevent violence without relying on violent institutions. *We refuse to have
our pain used to support violence of any kind.*

*JOIN US ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8^TH FOR A DAY OF RECLAIMING SAFETY.

*LGBTSTGNC communities from the Bay to Brooklyn will be strategizing and discussing community based solutions to violence. If you are in the Bay Area or the NYC area, attend the events listed below. If you are not, we encourage you to plan a conversation or some other type of event and let
us know how it went.

*Together, we can turn the tides of violence! * Read more…