Los Angeles, CA — This week, we have witnessed the collective power of our people reverberate around the country. In Los Angeles, our neighbors, family, and friends have shown up and taken good care of each other and demanded an end to the campaign of violence and criminalization being waged by ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) and other federal authorities. In protests around the country, a call for solidarity with our migrant siblings and their families is being made. The facts are clear: our moral conscience and freedom for people of all races, backgrounds, and genders are at stake.

As organizations committed to LGBTQIA2S+ liberation, we are answering this call. As certain politicians try to divide and turn us against one another, we refuse to let them bully our loved ones and stoke fear and division. Angelenos have refused to accept shameless injustice and set an example for us all.

The violence perpetrated by ICE cannot be ignored or justified. The Trump administration’s determination to conduct militarized raids targeting public school graduations, workplaces, the courts, and other locations of routine, daily life is repugnant. Attempts to suppress Angelenos’ unwavering opposition to these attacks by deploying the National Guard and Marines are clearly meant to manufacture a confrontation. If we hope to maintain our freedom to express ourselves and show dissent, we must loudly condemn this unprovoked escalation.

LGBTQIA2S+ communities hold a deep understanding of the terror and violence that certain politicians, local law enforcement, and an illegitimate immigration enforcement machine can inflict on us and our loved ones. We are, unfortunately, not strangers to the many ways authoritarian power seeks to repress and control. Our community has a long and proud history of defiance against oppression, often led by Black and brown trans women and femmes. We rose up at Compton’s Cafeteria and Stonewall, we created networks of care when governments ignored the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we forced legal recognition of our relationships and authentic selves, and we continue to fight for the world we all deserve.

We are heartened by the thousands of protests demonstrating solidarity in every state. People of all races, backgrounds, and genders, in rural towns and big cities across the country, have taken to the streets to resist the callous actions of the president and his administration. We applaud city and state officials who have taken steps to protect their residents and call on others to do the same.

The struggle for safety and freedom for migrants is an integral part of the struggle for LGBTQIA2S+ liberation. We know this because of the leadership, vision, and work of LGBTQIA2S+ migrants, and because the playbook followed by certain lawmakers to criminalize the freedom to thrive and access to care for migrants is the same one used to target our communities. We refuse to let the Trump administration bully migrants and instead call for respect for us all.

While much work lies ahead, we have the power to shape the future of our communities — a future that centers care, safety, and belonging for all.

Up-to-date signatories are listed here: Solidarity with Los Angeles.

Family Equality is creating a world where everyone can experience the love, safety, and belonging of family. As the leading national organization for current and future LGBTQ+ families, we work to ensure that everyone has the freedom to find, form, and sustain their families by advancing LGBTQ+ equality through advocacy, support, storytelling, and education. Learn more at familyequality.org.

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