Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom – US Section stands with the victims of the Orlando Florida PULSE LGBTQ Nightclub, and their families and against the homophobic hatred and fear that too many Americans express for the larger LGBTQ community, the immigrant community and Muslims in the US.
We affirm the right of all LGBTQ people to love freely and openly. We defend and assert the rights and contributions of all immigrants who are frequently under suspicion. We preserve the human and religious rights of all Muslims, whose peaceful religion is constantly suspect because of the actions of a few. We vehemently reject any threats to the humanity and dignity of any of us through violence and cultural hatred.
The recent shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people underscores the destructiveness of hate, the refusal to recognise the rights, humanity, dignity, and equality of ALL persons. We strongly condemn this carnage and erasure, real and/or symbolic. The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (US) therefore, stands against any practices, policies, or beliefs that privilege only a few. In the midst of the current climate of hate, we mourn and stand in solidarity with our LGBTQ, Latinx, and Muslim communities who have lost loved ones and against all acts that diminish their personhood.
Founded in 1915 by a group of international women, including Americans, seeking a peaceful ending to World War 1, the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom is the oldest women’s international peace organisation in the world. We have advocated for peace, global disarmament, human rights, and justice for all. We pledge to continue our struggle to secure lasting global peace and disarmament. With branches across the country, we work with our local LGBTQ, immigration, religious freedom advocates and peace organisations to defend the rights and lives of our LGBTQ, Latinx, immigrant, and Muslim communities and friends, for as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” In this battle, we will fight in solidarity!
In this struggle, we call all our local leaders and Congress to ban all assault weapons and pass stronger gun control laws, to end the cycle of violence which threatens all of us and our communities.