Pride Month: It’s A Family Affair

We see you. We hear you. We embrace you.

We are family. Somos familia.

Some of our greatest champions in LULAC history have been LGBTQ folks who devoted years to our civil rights struggle. Some served quietly, others have been out and proud. All have made LULAC a better, more inclusive space.

At LULAC, we reject the homophobia, biphobia and transphobia which still plagues our society today. We stand against the violence on LGBTQ bodies and the attacks on equal opportunities and protections of LGBTQ lives.

Together, we must fight against injustice in all its forms and manifestations. We are firmly committed to being an active and loving ally by centering the stories and voices of our LGBTQ familia in the struggle for human dignity.

“To our LULAC Latinx LGBTQ familia, we honor your contributions to the LGBTQ and Latinx civil rights movement. We stand with you in the fight for visibility, respect and equality,” said Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President. “And we support the passage of civil rights legislation the Equality Act.”

Although the LGBTQ Community has come a long way from the 1969 riots of New York’s Stonewall Inn, launched by civil rights icons Marsha P. Johnson, a Black Transwoman, and Sylvia Rivera, a Puerto Rican-Venezuelan Transgender Woman, there is still more to do.

“We may have won the right to marry and serve openly in the military, but our most vulnerable are being attacked today,” said Jesse Garcia, National LULAC LGBTQ Affairs Committee Chair. “This year 31 state legislatures introduced bills banning trans youth from sports teams that align with their gender, and 20 states are considering bans on gender-confirming medical care for trans youth. Not only are they trying to take away trans youth’s future, but they’re affecting their current mental state.”

LULAC stands against this oppression. We welcome our new generation of out and proud activists who will help us address these issues and more. In the last 15 years, Rainbow Councils have proudly launched in Dallas, San Antonio, Washington DC, Rio Grande Valley, Corpus Christi, Northern Virginia, and San Juan. We encourage more to join our movement.

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About LULAC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit https://lulac.org/