ORLANDO, Fla. — Momentum from the Black Lives Matter movement was seen in Central Florida’s LGBTQ+ community Wednesday.
What You Need To Know
- Black LGBTQ+ community leads rally in downtown Orlando
- Allies to the community like the Zebra Coalition supported them
- RELATED: As George Floyd's Death Sparks Global Movement, Leaders Urge People to Sustain Momentum
The region’s Black LGBTQ+ community led a rally Wednesday at Orlando City Hall.
Allies like the Zebra Coalition attended. They offer support services to LGBTQ+ youth ages 13-24. Executive Director Heather Wilkie said the Black Lives Matter movement impacts them.
“It is important for Zebra Coalition to make sure that we voice our opinion as an anti-racist organization because we want to make sure that youth feel safe coming to us and getting our services. We don’t want to leave anyone out,” she said.
Wilkie made signs and was ready to rally with this message: There is no LGBTQ liberation without Black liberation.
“As part of Pride month, let’s look at LGBTQ individuals and say, ‘who is it that needs our help the most?’ And when we look at that, we know that in terms of oppression, Black Trans people have a significant need for support,” she explained.
Angelica Jones attended the demonstration Wednesday. The Pulse survivor wanted people to see her and other members of the Black Trans community.
“Black Lives Matter and Pride Month coexist because of the Pulse tragedy. I think a lot of people fail to realize, they thought that it was just the Latinx community that was there that night, but the black and the brown people have always united and did things together, because we have a lot of similarities,” she said.
“We don’t want to lose any lives to a system that is not fair for everyone,” Wilkie said.
The Contigo Fund was formed after the Pulse nightclub attack. Wednesday, they launched the ALL BLACK LIVES FUND to support LGBTQ+ groups and efforts in Central Florida.