In response to the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando; the deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota; and the deaths of five police officers in Dallas, Men of All Colors Together-Philadelphia felt compelled to release our thoughts on these tragedies that affected all Americans: gay or straight; black, white or Latino; police or non-police.
All of these incidents offer a sobering and disturbing look at life in America today. The senseless deaths of 49 people in a gay nightclub by an extremist rattled us, made us feel uneasy, tense, angry. The all-too-common deaths of Sterling and Castile by overzealous police officers made us feel uncertain, dubious, angry. The untimely deaths of Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson and Dallas Police Officers Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Michael Smith and Lorne Ahrens made us feel unsettled, muddy, angry.
What do these events have in common? They make us ANGRY. Very angry. And we are not quite sure what to do about it.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families and loved ones involved, but we are certain that this is little comfort.
We’ve come up with three things that we feel strongly could help over time:
• Close all national and statewide loopholes for obtaining assault weapons.
• Resist homophobia, racism and sexism in every form.
• Resist racism and sexism in every form in the gay community.
We know it’s an uphill battle, but we in the LGBT community know better, expect better and will do better. To help, look up African-American country singer Coffey Anderson’s Traffic-Stop Etiquette video on Facebook for tips on what African-Americans can do during a traffic stop.
MACT-Philadelphia, Inc., is a gay, multiracial and multicultural organization committed to equality, diversity and justice in humankind through social, educational and other means to support LGBTQAI communities. Monthly meetings take place September-June at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.