One short year ago, our community was reeling from the senseless, tragic loss of life at Club Q in Colorado Springs. Five people were brutally murdered, and 25 others were injured by a shooter who had been radicalized by anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
Immediately, our team at the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) mobilized to identify new strategies against anti-LGBTQ+ violence. We launched the Safe Spaces Protection Project (SSPP) with national partners CenterLink and the Equality Federation. Our mission is to defend and fortify the spaces that are critical to our community.
In the first phase of SSPP, we conducted a national survey to gather data from queer spaces large and small. We needed to determine how safe they are, whether they are threatened by violence, whether law enforcement responds to our requests for protection, and what they need to keep their spaces safer.
That first-of-its-kind effort to engage LGBTQ+ spaces led to AVP’s landmark report, “Under Attack: 2022 LGBTQ+ Safe Spaces National Needs Assessment,” highlighting that more than 60% of the nearly 400 LGBTQ+-affirming spaces surveyed experienced at least one hate incident in 2022.
Bomb threats, angry protests, and hateful messages were just some examples of hate against LGBTQ+ spaces. Sadly, some groups experienced several types of hate, and many fear more in the future. One respondent said it bluntly: “I keep a baseball bat next to my bed and now worry a lot more…”
These threats are common, relentless, and nationwide. They forecast a dark future. Your support can help make it brighter.
2024 is right around the corner and with it the ruthless, anti-LGBTQ+ political rhetoric that breeds threats to our lives and liberties. We know the 2016 electoral cycle drove a spike in hate violence during and after, igniting the current assault on our rights and existence. And this year, our communities and spaces have endured so many threats and acts of hate already.
In these threatening and uncertain times, there is one thing you can count on: AVP takes action.
When the charming performers who host much-loved Drag Story Hour are viciously threatened, AVP shows up to provide safety training and support for library staff and event organizers.
After analyzing the data about violence against our community, AVP rang the alarm at Capitol Hill about the hate epidemic threatening LGBTQ+ people. After a White House briefing on our report, the Biden Administration announced, “new actions to protect LGBTQI+ communities from attacks on their rights and safety.”
Since the White House, AVP has briefed the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Education, and Homeland Security, Congressional representatives, and dozens of LGBTQ+ and community leaders. The response is promising and hopeful. Adm. Rachel Levine, the nation’s top-ranking trans official and head of HHS responded to AVP’s innovative work by affirming hate violence as a public health threat.
“I look forward to a day in the future where hate-fueled violence, is an unwelcome memory of the past and no longer incites fear amongst LGBTQI+ people, and all people who live in America,” Adm. Levine told the Washington Blade in October. “We all deserve to live in communities safe from violence.”
AVP is ensuring your safety, your health, and your life stories are top of the agenda in high-level meetings. Your concerns are being heard, and change is imminent. Your generous support will ensure that AVP continues to uplift and amplify your voices, shaping and implementing policies that put your safety first.
AVP’s national policy strategies champion new ways to work toward ending anti-LGBTQ hate violence across the country, and our community safety training initiatives teach groups to build critical skills for creating safer spaces. Here in New York, AVP’s hotline and free counseling services continue to be a lifeline to community members experiencing violence in their homes, on the streets, and in everyday spaces that should be safe.
Because of you, AVP’s work is saving lives and building safer communities. Giving to AVP can be your strategy to protect yourself and those you love. Learn more about how you can help below and donate today.
Until we are all safe and free…
“We’re so grateful for the support of our LGBTQ+ siblings, allies and community. We have a long, hard road ahead, and we need you all now more than ever to protect our safe spaces.”
Since AVP released its Pride and Pain report in 2019, it has tracked and monitored the threats against drag performers and LGBTQ+ spaces. Increasingly, more spaces became targets of anti-LGBTQ+ violence.
