LGBTQ Issues Compounded In Denver

13th February 2015

“Brittany Ferrell, co-founder of Ferguson, Mo. organization Millennial Activists United, and supporters respond to applause from the crowd." 

In February, thousands of people from across the country and the world united in a discussion and celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer education and progress.

But participants of the 27th annual National LGBTQ Task Force’s “Creating Change” conference in Denver bitterly remembered LGBTQ people who suffered and died last year and in the weeks so far of 2015. Further, the connections between race and LGBTQ issues were brought to light.

"Brittany Ferrell, co-founder of Millennial Activists United, leads a group discussion on black and LGBTQ issues.”

“You cannot erase our experiences by not including us in the conversation,” says Brittany Ferrell, co-founder of Millennial Activists United, a grassroots organization from Ferguson, Mo. “Black lives matter encompasses everyone. Poor, rich, in prison; you matter. You cannot take humanity away from people because of their level of education or their social status.”

Ferrell and nearly a dozen other supporters took turns speaking about how important it is to acknowledge the compounded issues that Black LGBTQ people face.

“While we share the same struggle of being LGBTQ, there’s a whole other experience of walking Black in that struggle,” Ferrell says. “We have to acknowledge that. We have to advocate and affirm that their lives matter too.”

“Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, speaks during a plenary session at the 27th annual Creating Change conference in Denver.”

Several speakers reminded the crowd of the shooting by the Denver Police Department of 17-year-old lesbian Jessica Hernandez, whose death occurred barely a week earlier. The shooting involved an allegedly stolen car that Hernandez was driving, and the case may be turned over to federal authorities. Rea Carey, executive director of the D.C.-based National LGBTQ Task Force, clarified that she is deeply aware of the many people in communities across the country who are exempt to the same type of violence.

“Racial profiling is an LGBTQ issue,” says Carey. “While some of us are not faced with life or death choices every day, we know there are many in this room who are. Walking out of their homes, walking into a convenience store, walking down the street with friends, driving a car, are life or death situations.”

Carey says that as a white woman, it concerns her to see how quickly people, including LGBTQ people, can move away from the statement that “Black lives matter” to the statement “all lives matter.” The “Black” in “Black lives matter” is an important mobilization of compassion, anger and resolve, and not recognizing that is like stepping away from the sometimes-uncomfortable work of change, Carey says.

“Supporters of Black LGBTQ issues greet each other with hugs on stage at the Creating Change conference in Denver.”

Keith Rose, a queer activist involved in the Ferguson movement, traveled to Denver to participate in the conference. He says that traditional Black leadership in Ferguson dropped off, and that megaphones were picked up by queer women of color, including Ferrell. He says his involvement just happened naturally.

“Keith Rose, queer activist, and Brittany Ferrell, co-founder of Millennial Activists United, traveled to Denver from Ferguson, Mo. for the Creating Change conference.”

“I was there, as a person living in the area, and I saw people in the community who may or may not have needed help,” Rose says. “Too many times we see things like this and we ignore them. You cannot be an ally in your own head.”

Carey says that the National LGBTQ Task Force vows to continue their work to keep racial, economic and gender justice at the forefront of discussion, and to push for the end of policies that criminalize LGBTQ lives.

One of the Task Force’s main focuses in 2015, Carey says, is to secure non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, without broad religious exemptions. Currently, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission is addressing two discrimination complaints with a complicated connection.

In May 2014, the Commission ruled that a bakery owner had violated the state Anti-Discrimination Act by refusing to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple. But then in January, a different bakery owner faced a complaint after she refused to write anti-gay statements on a cake for a customer, raising questions about what obligations business owners have to their customers’ requests.

“You have a right to your beliefs,” Carey says. “But that is not an excuse to pick and choose which laws you want to follow or change the laws to fit your beliefs.”

The Commission has not yet ruled on whether the second baker discriminated against the customer, but whatever decision is made may affect the first ruling. As laws change, Carey warns against mistaking steps toward progress as permanent victories.

“Let us not believe that by winning the right to marry, that that somehow crosses off more than one item on our LGBTQ agenda, or even recognizes all of our families,” she says.

In spring 2015, Carey says that the Task Force will be unveiling a grassroots digital campaign to help the LGBTQ community engage in discussion about what should be included on that agenda.

“We have momentum now, and we can’t deny it or squander the chance to use it for a greater good,” she says.

by April Nowicki