The New York City Anti-Violence Project makes the following statement in response to the FBI/DHS joint statement on May 10th.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security’s joint May 10th Public Service Announcement regarding the threat of international terrorism at LGBTQ+ Pride events and venues throughout June 2024 in the U.S. further confirms what our community already knows – that LGBTQ people continue to be targets of hate violence. Pride month, of all months, is a time for us to celebrate our existence, our resilience and our right to live free from violence. It is unfortunate that due to the political climates, both here and abroad, we must continuously urge our community to remain vigilant. The FBI and DHS categorized the potential harm as being from “foreign terrorist organizations,” when the reality is, that the harm LGBTQ people face from people domestically cannot be ignored and is magnified by the harmful rhetoric and legislation we see nationwide. The brutal violence happening in our country is one that the LGBTQ+ community has endured for generations, but markedly in recent years with the sharp rise of right-wing, extremist and white nationalist violence at both the state and interpersonal level.
This threat, unfortunately, is not new. As we approach the 8th anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting on June 12, and a year and a half since the Club Q shooting in Colorado, it is not only incumbent upon LGBTQ+ people and allies to support and protect each other, these spaces and events, but it is imperative that city and state governments bolster their support for the LGBTQ+ community by providing unconditional and sufficient safety measures, transparency, necessary funding and deep collaboration with Community.
This notice from the FBI is also consistent with our findings in the 2022 LGBTQ Safe Spaces National Needs assessment, which uncovered that more than three out of every five (62.1%) LGBTQ+ spaces experienced some form of hate violence. Though the data did not differentiate between domestic vs international actors, the reality is that often these organizations knew of the individuals or groups acting against them. We also know that nearly nine out of every 10 (89.6%) LGBTQ+ organizations reported needing more safety measures or technology to keep communities safer.
AVP’s 40-plus years of grassroots work makes the organization uniquely positioned to work with individuals, groups and businesses to safety plan through customizable versions of our de-escalation and Safety Planning Trainings that shares public violence intervention tools and tactics, to downloadable safety toolkits and Community Safety alerts on social media.
As we go into Pride season, AVP would like to offer a few safety tips to stay safe during nightlife:
- Call our 24/7 hotline and speak with someone to create a safety plan
- Use your tech to alert friends of your plans and any changes to your plans
- Have a safe word/phrase with friends that you can text if you feel unsafe
- Use appropriate phone security measures to protect your data
- Meet in public and practice safety in numbers
- Know your limit when using substances; use testing strips when using with others
- Practice harm reduction by engaging in safer sex (internal/external condoms)
- Trust your instincts and leave if you feel unsafe
- You can find other resources and safety tools on our website: www.avp.org/resources/ and to report violence or seek additional help, contact our 24/7 bilingual hotline at 212-714-1141.