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June 8, 2020 — AFGE’s Women’s and Fair Practices Departments proudly welcomes you to LGBTQ+ Pride Month, a month to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots, and works to achieve equal justice and equal opportunity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) Americans.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions in the United States, starting with the first Pride March in New York on June 28, 1970, one year after the Stonewall Uprising.

Some victories

In the last 50 years, activist groups and labor unions have been using their capacities to fight for equal rights, protections, and access for our LGBTQ+ community.

Though we have been rallying behind our LGBTQ+ community for decades, true federal change started in 1995 with the Federal Hate Crimes Sentencing Enactment Act which includes hate acts based on one’s actual or perceived gender or sexual identity, in addition to their race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or disability.

Between the late 90s and early 2000s, the pro-LGBTQ+ community continued to fight oppressive policies such as the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy of 1993, and varying state initiatives which bar our LGBTQ+ community from equal rights and access. The LGBTQ+ finally started to gain ground in 2003 when the US Supreme Court struck down the “homosexual conduct” law, which decriminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, with their opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision also reversed Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld Georgia’s sodomy law.

Victories for the LGBTQ+ community started at the state and local levels with Hawaii being the first state to recognize same-sex marriages in 1994, followed by Massachusetts in 2004, California in 2005, New Jersey in 2006, and many other states until same-sex marriage was finally legalized nation-wide in 2013. But, equality just doesn’t mean marriage equality; it means equality in every aspect of life and society.

Keep fighting

To this day, our LGBTQ+ community still faces layers of discrimination throughout our society. From being barred from service at certain private businesses, to being denied housing due to their sexual orientation and gender identity, to being denied job opportunities and advancements because of their identities, this community is denied equal access and opportunity on a day to day basis. We need to keep fighting for our LGBTQ+ partners and counter oppressive and out of touch narratives which stigmatize this community.

Though we may not be able to do in-person events to celebrate Pride Month this year, it is still encouraged that our members stand in solidarity with their LGBTQ+ sisters and brothers as we continue to protest and raise political awareness of current issues facing the community.

We must make sure we make room in our community for these voices to be heard and lifted. Please stand with us as we continue to fight discrimination and further our uphill battle to secure equal rights and opportunities for our LGBTQ+ community at the federal, state, and local levels of government.

Change starts with you!

Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed in Minneapolis on May 25 after being pinned down by a police officer’s knee to his neck. He begged for his life, telling the officer he could not breathe.

From London to Philadelphia, people have been taking to the streets, shocked and appalled by police brutality and Floyd’s resulting death – the latest in a series of unacceptable killings, imprisonment, and mistreatment of black Americans, including Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many others before them.

“As an American, a part of my soul left me as I watched that beautiful young life leave Mr. Floyd on the pavement at the hands of those who were sworn to protect him,” said AFGE President Everette Kelley. “As a black man, husband, and father – raised in the Jim Crow South and living in a nation where black bodies continue to be assaulted with impunity every day – I know I am not alone in feeling the indignation, the anxiety, the rage that comes from knowing it just as well could have been my son or nephew that perished beneath that callous officer’s knee.”

“This must end here. This can never be normal again. This generation – the young men and women of all races thronging the streets across America – are crying out for an end to racism once and for all,” Kelley added. “I too will dedicate every ounce of influence and fiber of my being I can muster to realize the dream of America for all my brothers and sisters to come.”

AFGE’s National Executive Council (NEC) voiced full support for Black Lives Matter.

“We are proud to give our full support and solidarity to the Black Lives Matter cause, to support the peaceful protesters on the streets across our country calling for change, and to join their calls for racial justice and specific policy proposals that will help our country achieve those ends,” the NEC said in a June 8 statement. “We support their call for more police accountability and for a reallocation of resources from militarized policing and toward community redevelopment and education. We will promote their push for economic policies that help eliminate the myriad ways that racial inequality continues to plague our nation.”

The NEC added that, “we strongly reject the false choice between ‘law and order’ and Black Lives Matter and the struggle to attain full economic and racial justice. We respect the law, but the president and law enforcement must respect it as well. As a union, we have a responsibility to fight racial injustice head on – inside our union and outside of it.”

The NEC said AFGE is committed to ongoing education among our union’s members and leaders to help us tackle these issues and help our members address issues of racism in their union or their workplace.

“By taking these actions, we intend to create a future where our AFGE colors of blue and gold become synonymous with a union membership who has learned how to provide meaningful support in the struggle for real equality for all – regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, ethnicity, or other difference.”