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Black LGBTQ Leaders Speak OUT

By Charlotte Robinson, March 10, 2022

Since WNBA Center Brittney Griner was detained at a Russian airport last month & subsequently jailed, Black LGBTQ leaders & SGL Russian Asylum Seekers are speaking out & calling for global prayer for Griner to be brought home. David Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a leading Black LGBTQ+ civil rights organization stated, “Black & LGBTQ+ people living in Russia & in the Ukraine face the twin perils of racism in an overwhelmingly white nation & anti-LGBTQ+ harassment & persecution in a nation where the community is routinely excluded & ridiculed. We pray for & call for safety, physical & mental well-being, for all Black LGBTQ+ people in Russia, including our own Brittney Griner.” Kierra Johnson, Executive Director of the National LGBTQ Task Force concluded, “From racist discrimination & abuse reported at the Ukrainian border to attempts just last month by the Russian government to dissolve the largest LGBTQ organization in the country, it is clear that people of color & queer people in both countries are not only in the crosshairs of warring nations but of escalating racism & homophobia. Our hearts go out to all of the people suffering from war & violence in the Ukraine & Russia & we are reminded of the additional impact of war on people of color & our LGBTQ+ family who are fighting for their freedom & lives. As a queer woman of color my hope is that the Russian government is honoring the humanity of Brittney Griner & that she is being treated with respect & dignity and will be returned to the US promptly.” 

1 comment:

Melanie Willingham-Jaggers Executive Director of GLSEN said...

The news of Brittney Griner’s detainment in Russia is absolutely heartbreaking. GLSEN sends love and support to her wife and family. GLSEN unwaveringly supports BG and all that she embodies for all the big, visible androgynous Black lesbians and non-binary people everywhere. She is one of us, and we value her.

As a Black, queer, and nonbinary leader of the leading national organization working to guarantee LGBTQ+ students safe and affirming education, I hope Brittney is treated with dignity and humanity with her health and safety as a priority. We wish for Brittney’s safe expedient return to the U.S.

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