Love In Action Full Moon Feature | Pride For The LGBTQ+ Community
As humans there are minimal necessities we need to not only survive but to thrive. Belonging is one of them. To feel seen, acknowledged, valued, supported and a part of a community has proven to elevate quality of life, to create a life with opportunity, and to foster a feeling of safety. June is Pride Month, a national honoring of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, a catalyst moment in American history and the birth of various LGBTQ+ movements. For too long, the LGBTQ+ community has fought hard for basic human rights, for visibility, for equality and non-discrimination, for belonging, and today, years of hard-fought civil liberty protections are under threat. Over 100 bills attacking transgender people alone have been introduced in state legislatures since 2020. Bills that deny and reject the recognition of people’s identities and put their safety at risk.
Actively Advocating For Human Rights Since 1920
The ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union) is our nation's guardian of liberty, working in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. The ACLU has a long history of defending the LGBTQ community, and brought their first LGBTQ rights case way back in 1936. Today, the ACLU brings more LGBTQ rights cases and advocacy initiatives than any other national organization does. In fact, the ACLU has been counsel in seven of the nine LGBTQ rights cases that the U.S. Supreme Court has decided — more than any other organization.
Their tireless efforts work to ensure that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people belong everywhere and can live openly and authentically without discrimination, harassment, or violence. Because what more basic, deserved, and dignifying human right is there than to know that you belong.
Current Focus
The ACLU’s current priorities are to end discrimination, harassment and violence toward transgender people, to close gaps in our federal and state civil rights laws, to prevent protections against discrimination from being undermined by a license to discriminate, and to protect LGBTQ people in and from the criminal legal system.
Dive In With Pride
Their website is rich with resources — articles, current news, podcast episodes and more on various topics pertaining to the LGBTQ+ rights movement (and so much more). At the end of this post you can find direct links to supportive resources categorized by their focuses.
Let’s celebrate Pride through solidarity; through expressing our love into action; by learning something new about LGBTQ+ history in our country and home regions; by learning about the current bills that are attacking LGBTQ+ rights — where they’re happening and who’s proposing them; by making a monetary donation to the ACLU in whatever amount is feasible so that they can continue their work to protect and advocate for the safety and sense of belonging for our LGBTQ+ community, neighbors, and friends.
Love In Action is about taking our response to collective issues beyond the sending of “thoughts and prayers” and instead, inspiring a personal action that can contribute to real effective change. Donations can do that. Sharing information can do that. Voting for candidates and policy makers who support LGBTQ+ rights can do that. Having real conversations with the people in your life can do that. Changing your own mind can do that.
Fight For Everyone’s Rights: Make A Donation
Resources
ACLU’s history of LGBTQ+ rights advocacy
LGBTQ Parenting
Criminal Justice Reform for LGBTQ People
Non-discrimination Protections
LGBTQ Relationships
LGBTQ Youth
Transgender Rights