New York, NY - Today, in the second anniversary of the Orlando’s Pulse nightclub massacre and terror attack, Puerto Rican activist, writer, and founder of Latinx & QPOC for Equality in América: Queeramisú, Samy Nemir, released the following statement: “Where did the prayers go? Two years after the deadliest mass shooting in the country’s history where 49 lives -and their families- were destroyed by hate, we are still waiting for Congress to turn those empty thoughts and tweets into real action. Over 600 days have gone and nothing, except we continue to suffer the trauma of losing dozens more of innocent lives to gun violence but also to the politicians’ gross intransigence, negligence and opportunism. Hopefully, they all lose their seats soon. Even these families and communities are still waiting for support and mental health services. We are sick and tired and say enough. This year we #HonorThemWithAction mobilizing throughout the country raising awareness, registering to vote, and electing pro-LGBT and anti-gun candidates. Pulse was not only a gun violence issue, it was an issue of hate violence and homophobia targeted against the LGBTQ communities, in which half of the victims were Puerto Rican or Latinxs. So while gun reform is imperative, we also have to talk about the violence and discrimination LGBTQ people of color suffer disproportionately every day. Just two weeks, a trans Latina woman Roxsana Hernández died while on ICE custody, this week another Trans Latina woman was stabbed five times in a hate crime and two man beat up a gay man after a Pride event. I was also harassed with homophobic slurs in NYC. We have to talk that low-income, youth, and LGBTQ people of color are at particular risk of violence, discrimination, homelessness, and HIV. We have to talk that in 30 states still LGBTQ people can still be fired for being themselves, that transgender women of color get killed in alarming numbers, that states still allow so-called conversion therapy and that we have thousands of LGBTQ youth in the streets. These are all types of violence, and many inflicted by the state. What have politicians’ thoughts have done to solve these crises? We need action. Gun reform, anti-discrimination laws, funding and mental health support.” To #HonorThemWithAction, Queeramisú will be attending Tuesday at 6 p.m. a rally “TGNC+ Communities Won’t stay Quiet to Hate.” to denounce the recent hate crimes and violent incidents in New York City. ### Latinx & QPOC for Equality in América (Queeramisú) is a network to increase representation, connect and support LGBTQ Latinos and people of color in the United States and across Latin America. www.queeramisu.com Comments are closed.
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