O4U Calls for Healing and Action to Stop Violence Against LGBTQ2+ People

We grieve with our LGBTQ2+ community in Colorado Springs (https://www.npr.org/2022/11/20/1138045219/colorado-springs-shooting-lgbtq-club-q-5-dead). When violence comes to our safe places and takes the lives of our people, it is heartbreaking and strips away any illusion of refuge. Club Q has been a place of safety, a place to escape stigma, hate, discrimination and violence. What next? How can we support our community in healing and responding? What is our call to action even as we grieve?”

O4U has identified and recommends the following steps:

1. Call upon our government and citizens to achieve zero-tolerance for violence against LGBTQ2+ people through prevention programs, establishment of violence prevention and victim support clinics, establishment of safety from violence shelters, increased public and private investment in public safety, security, and strengthening of health and educational institutions.

2. Encourage deep collaborative action on violence prevention, with integrated violence prevention and victim support in all public institutions.

3. Cooperation between social justice and equity organizations in efforts to eliminate inequities and inequalities that may create the conditions for violence.

4. Demand the enactment and enforcement of policies and laws on violence prevention, protection and support of victims of violence, and punishment of offenders.

O4U’s mission is to help high achieving LGBTQ2+ undergraduates achieve their full potential. For almost 20 years, O4U has identified and admitted more than 7000 undergraduates to its leadership and career development conferences in Business, Tech, Marketing and Engineering. Graduates describe the experience as “life changing.”

Love continued, “ We create O4U experiences to ensure that none of us is alone, that all of us have community for support and that every LGBTQ2+ undergraduate in our programs has a chance to get a great job in a fully affirming business. This is part of our justice-seeking, to co-create equitable environments where mutual respect and human dignity are centered.”

We also encourage you to visit https://reports.hrc.org/an-epidemic-of-violence-2022 for more information.