P@W Stands with Michael Brown’s Family

Four days ago, a young African-American man was shot and killed in a confrontation with police in Ferguson, MO. His name was Michael Brown and he was only days away from beginning his first year in college. The details are murky and the police still haven’t released the name of the officer who shot Brown, but one thing is abundantly clear: another unarmed, young black man has died at the barrel of a gun.

Please read the joint letter, penned by the Human Rights Campaign and joined by the nation’s leading LGBT equality organizations, copied below. Pride at Work joins our brothers and sisters in the LGBT advocacy community standing in solidarity with Michael Brown’s family and calling for a speedy and transparent investigation into this tragedy.

The letter, copied below, can also be found online here:

When communities experience fear, harassment and brutality simply because of who they
are or how they look, we are failing as a nation. In light of the recent events in Missouri,
it is clearer than ever that there is something profoundly wrong in our country.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community cannot be silent at this
moment, because LGBT people come from all races, creeds, faiths and backgrounds, and
because all movements of equality are deeply connected. We are all part of the fabric of
this nation and the promise of liberty and justice for all is yet to be fulfilled.

The LGBT community stands with the family of Michael Brown, who was gunned down
in Ferguson, Missouri. We stand with the mothers and fathers of young Black men and
women who fear for the safety of their children each time they leave their homes. We call
on the national and local media to be responsible and steadfast in their coverage of this
story and others like it–racialized killings that have marred this nation since the
beginning of its history. We call on policy makers on all levels of American government
not to shrink from action, and we are deeply grateful to Attorney General Eric Holder and
the Department of Justice for their immediate commitment to a thorough investigation.

At this moment, we are inspired by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “In the end,
we will remember not the words of our enemies … but the silence of our friends.”

ACLU
AIDS United
Center for Black Equity, Inc.
Courage Campaign
Equality Federation
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD)
GLAAD
GMHC
Human Rights Campaign
National Black Justice Coalition
National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
National Minority AIDS Council
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA)
PFLAG National
Pride at Work, AFL-CIO
Soulforce
Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
Trans People of Color Coalition
Transgender Law Center
Trevor Project