LGBT Groups Join Stop-and-Frisk Silent March

Gay and lesbian organizations will join leaders in the gay, black and Latino communities to protest the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk practice with a silent march on Sunday, June 17.

"We stand united against racial profiling and police harassment on the basis of a person's identity. LGBT people, especially those of color, know painfully well what it's like to be targeted and demeaned in this way," said Stacey Long, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "Just as there was no sound reason to raid the Stonewall Inn in 1969, there is no sound reason to stop and frisk black and Latino men in 2012 simply for being who they are. This must end now."

And according to a recent national report by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, in 2011, 62 percent of survivors of anti-gay violence experienced indifferent or hostile attitudes from the police. Similar to last year's report, communities disproportionately impacted by indifferent or hostile police attitudes, police misconduct and police violence in New York City were transgender people, people of color and transgender people of color.

National gay advocates gathered in front of the Stonewall Inn on June 5 for a press conference announcing their participation in the march, which is organized by the NAACP. Other groups participating include the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, the Empire State Pride Agenda, the Ali Forney Center, Marriage Equality USA, Streetwise and Safe, the Gay Men's Health Crisis and New York Trans Rights Organization.

"The coming together of civil rights leaders and LGBT leaders on this issue is a historic union with broad social and political ramifications. If we fight for each other's issues it broadens and strengthens each respective movement," said Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network, who participated in the June 5 press conference.

Civil rights, faith, labor and community groups will come together at 110th Street and Seventh Avenue at 3 p.m. on June 17, Father's Day, for the silent march protesting the stop-and-frisk policy. Some LGBT organizations will meet at 110th Street and Lenox Avenue at 2:30 p.m. to assemble.

The march has been endorsed by elected officials including Sen. Tom Duane, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and Councilmembers Danny Dromm, Rosie Mendez, Jimmy Van Bramer, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

"I'm proud to stand with LGBT leaders in support of the Father's Day March," said Quinn. "Together we can send a message that more must be done to significantly reduce the number of unwarranted stops and to bridge the divide between the NYPD and the communities they serve."

For more information on the march, email [email protected] or visit www.silentmarchnyc.org