As an LGBT+ community we have always had a responsibility to stand in solidarity with black communities both inside our LGBT+ family but also with every single black person around the world in the fight for black liberation.

We have a responsibility to admit that our community is also frequently not a safe space for black people, as well as other BAME communities, and to do something about this.

We are sorry. We know as an LGBT+ community we have not worked hard enough to change this. We really don’t want this to be a single flash-point or a moment where we concede enough hasn’t been done, but forget about it in a few weeks when the initial media attention is over. We are committing right now to a journey as an organisation to be better.

For those members who are not black, we have a responsibility as allies to do better. We have a responsibility to listen, to educate ourselves and to amplify black voices in the fight for justice. We also have a responsibility to take care and support our black siblings both inside our organisation, our members and our wider community. In particular, we believe it is the role of white people, and those whose ethnicity puts them in closer proximity to whiteness to use their privilege to amplify black voices and advocate for change.

Right now, we cannot tell you the exact form this process and work will take. What we can promise is that we are going to work really hard to listen, to educate ourselves, and to drive towards an organisation and a community that has racial justice at its heart.

There is no LGBT+ liberation without black liberation.

To begin this process, and to support you as our members to begin this process, we have collated a list of resources so that we can each turn our solidarity into action.

Join us.