Resolution on Racial Justice: We Are One

WHEREAS, on February 26, 2012, unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by George Zimmerman
in Sanford, Florida;

WHEREAS, all of the LGBTQ community, regardless of race or ethnicity, can identify with the experience of someone killed simply because of who they are or what they look like;

WHEREAS, murder victims from hate crimes based on gender identity or expression are disproportionately women of color;

WHEREAS, the transgender people of color are especially hard it by economic injustice, as the National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found that:

  • “Black and Latino LGBT people are more likely to be in poor health than both their heterosexual and non-transgender counterparts within communities of color and their White counterparts within the LGBT community;
  • [that] Asian and Pacific Islander American LGBT and Native American LGBT/Two-Spirit communities undoubtedly bear similarly disproportionate burdens, though there is a serious lack of research in this area; and
  • Black transgender people live in extreme poverty, with 34% reporting an income of $10,000 or less per year, twice the rate of all transgender people (15%), four times the general black population and over eight times the general U.S. population”;

WHEREAS, as of July 2012 the CNN reported that according to the Labor Department the “unemployment rate for blacks rose to 14.4% from 13.6% in May… a sharp contrast to the white unemployment rate, which stayed put at 7.4%, and the Hispanic rate, which held at 11%”;

WHEREAS, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, NAACP, Labor Coalition of Latin American Advancement, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance have all take positions in support of both the Employment NonDiscrimination Act (ENDA) and marriage equality;

WHEREAS, our common struggles for good jobs and the ability work in safety with dignity and respect is a common bond that all of our communities share;

WHEREAS, advocating for LGBTQ equality without recognizing racial disparities and without including work on racial justice equates to only advocating for white LGBTQ people, which is not adequate or acceptable;

WHEREAS, it is not adequate to seek to train others on injustice and inequality without every organization look at similar work they need to do within their own house;

WHEREAS, Pride @ Work is committed to a progressive moment that includes all of us, and to raising the voices of marginalized workers;

WHEREAS, diversity work is vital not because it looks or sounds good, but because it makes our vision for a just world more whole and our work more effective; and

WHEREAS, Pride @ Work approaches work on racial justice and all work against discrimination from the perspective that we all have something to teach – and something to learn.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work commits to stand in solidarity in organizing for racial justice, because it is our own struggle;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work commits to continue the internal work within our own organization to better include, support and advocate for LGBTQ people of color, including education, training and dialogue;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, Pride @ Work will formally launch a P@W People of Color to lead and guide these efforts, to be first convened by Pride @ Work leaders Gabe González and Stan Kiino, with national staff support;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work calls on all of the LGBTQ community to continue expanding efforts to ensure that LGBTQ people of color are represented in all levels of staff, elected leadership and organizational messaging and priorities for action;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Pride @ Work will continue to prioritize LGBTQ people of color in our training and leadership development, to support efforts to train new and diverse leadership from the grassroots of our movement;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work will continue to engage and partner with other LGBTQ and allied efforts for racial justice within our unions and the labor/progressive movement as a whole;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work will formalize our existing mentoring support for trained LGBTQ labor leaders who are people of color as they continue to build their skills and experience;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work will prioritize seating of LGBTQ labor leaders who are people of color into decision-making seats within Pride @ Work and our labor movement as a whole; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Pride @ Work will educate and activate our members and leadership in support of vital issues for LGBTQ people of color.