Gun Violence is an LGBTQIA+ Issue
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the preservation of gun rights is more important than the preservation of reproductive rights. As our community fights back against the unjust overturning of Roe, we have another major problem to contend with :: firearms.
Gun violence is a uniquely American issue and its devastation disproportionately impacts marginalized communities. On Monday, the Biden Administration celebrated the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first gun reform legislation signed in three decades.
But this important victory for reform is only the first step in the long journey of creating safer communities. Recognizing the intersectionality of gun violence as an LGBTQIA+ issue is critical to protecting our nation from another mass shooting.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act takes necessary steps towards eradicating gun violence by investing in crisis intervention and mental health services, while also working to strengthen background checks to prevent firearms from landing in the wrong hands, particularly perpetrators of intimate partner violence.
While this new law is a meaningful marker of progress, many gun violence prevention advocates are demanding Congress and the Biden Administration do more to protect our nation’s communities and children from the ongoing epidemic of carnage that is all too preventable.
Recognizing gun violence as an intersectional issue is one critical step towards safeguarding our communities. Intersectionality, a term coined by educator and activist Kimberlé Crenshaw, refers to the interconnected relationships between our identities and social justice or human rights issues. Because gun violence and gun-related death disproportionately impacts LGBTQIA+ Americans, protective measures must be built from an intersectional lens to support and insulate our community from tragedy.
In 2016, a hate-motivated mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando killed 49 patrons and critically injured 58 more. The victims of the tragedy were predominately LGBTQIA+ and Latinx. And while Pulse quickly became one of the most publicized acts of gun violence against the LGBTQIA+ community, it wasn’t the first nor the last gun-related tragedy that our community has witnessed.
Gun violence data from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law indicates that lesbian, gay, and bisexual+ (LGB) Americans are less likely to own a firearm than heterosexual Americans. In spite of this, the LGBTQIA+ community is more likely to die at the hands of a firearm due to anti-trans animosity, youth suicide, intimate-partner violence, and hate-motivated violence. Data from the Human Rights Campaign reveals that two-thirds of all acts of fatal violence against trans and gender nonconforming Americans since 2013 have involved a firearm.
According to HRC, “the overwhelming majority of those victims were Black women under the age of 30.”
These statistics remind us that Black trans women are the most vulnerable to hate-motivated violence due to the intersections of anti-Blackness, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia.
America’s foundation of hate — combined with our historical lack of comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation — puts our community at a heightened risk of gun-related injury and death. In turn, we’ve witnessed hate crime statistics rise and more vulnerable Americans die as a result.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The important work of the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats to protect Americans from gun violence must extend to protect the LGBTQIA+ community and other marginalized groups. At the ground level, this starts with electing legislators who will advocate for our communities in Congress and write legislation that includes us as a headline instead of a footnote. The statistics demand that we invest a necessary focus on the intersectionality between gun violence and various forms of bigotry — and how gun accessibility fuels the fire that subsequently devastates our communities.
The Disarm Hate Act would close the loopholes that lead to horrific carnage by prohibiting Americans convicted of hate crimes from obtaining firearms. Under current law, an individual convicted of hate-motivated violence can still pass a background check in most states. Passing federal legislation that prevents hate crime perpetrators from owning firearms would establish gun safety measures through an intersectional lens — and protect our communities for good.
Gun violence prevention is necessary to ensure that all Americans live long lives free of violence. We all deserve this freedom.
We can create a better, safer world together.
Want to Learn More About Gun Violence Prevention?
Here are Some Additional Resources ::
⚡️ Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
⚡️ Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
⚡️ Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Film)
