The Country and our Community at a Crossroads

Anxious about the results of the election? You aren’t alone. The challenges we have faced this year from COVID, and the economic and political turmoil it has created, have not done anything to calm our fears.

Now, we find ourselves at a national crossroads. The results of the election will lead us down one path or another, and those paths are vastly different. But no matter the outcome, Resource Center stands ready to fight for the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities.

Want to channel that election anxiety?

• First: vote!
• Then, donate to support Resource Center’s advocacy.
• Finally, sign up for our advocacy alerts. You’ll be among the first to know about upcoming advocacy opportunities.

Your support means we can continue to stand strong against threats to the LGBTQ community that have seemed to emerge almost daily.

Exactly what is it we are fighting for? Allow me to throw some numbers at you:

• 92: That’s the percentage of LGBTQ students in Texas who regularly heard homophobic remarks and slurs at school.
• 45: That’s the percentage of LGBTQ students in Texas who regularly heard school staff make negative remarks about gender expression.
• 40: That’s the estimated percentage of homeless youth who identify as LGBTQ, despite making up only 7% of the youth population.
• 17: That’s the number (at least) of transgender women murdered in Texas since 2015. More than half the deaths occurred in Dallas alone.
• 125,000:  That’s the number of transgender Texans who are not covered by the state’s hate crime laws.
• 27: That’s the percentage of LGBTQ people in Texas that are food insecure.
• 40: That’s the percentage of girls in the juvenile justice system who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual. 85-90% of incarcerated LGBTQ youth are youth of color.
• 928,000: That’s the estimated number of LGBTQ Texans that lack explicit state non-discrimination protections for employment, housing and even being served in public.
• 6: That’s the number of states, including Texas, that continue to have “no promo homo laws” that restrict any mention of homosexuality in sex ed.
• 26: That’s the number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced during the 2019 Texas legislative session.

We’ve been at a national crossroads before. Advocacy has been an integral part of Resource Center, dating back to our founding in 1983. In those days, the fight was for survival, for recognition and a simple acknowledgement of the HIV/AIDS epidemic from a President who wouldn’t even speak its name.

Much has changed since that time. Resource Center has grown to become one of the largest LGBTQ community centers in the country and a critical voice for the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities. Today, we continue the fight. Though the issues have evolved, the goal remains the same: equality. 

But our advocacy isn’t about us; it’s about you! You are the reason we continue the fight. We envision a world where our state and nation’s laws and culture reflect what we already know: that our communities deserve equal treatment and the respect of all.

Take heart in knowing that whatever happens, we will continue the fight. I hope you will support our advocacy mission and help us create those brighter days ahead.

-Cece Cox, CEO