CUAV Releases 2007 Annual Anti-LGBTQQ Hate Violence Report

Marking 29-year anniversary since Harvey Milk's murder

On May 20, 2008, alongside the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) and over thirty of its member agencies, CUAV released its 2007 annual report on violence against LGBTQ people. CUAV’s local Bay Area report indicated that incidents of anti-LGBT violence in the Bay Area are up to 304 from 285 in 2006.

While the overall LGBT murder and suspicious death rates rose in 2007, murder rates for transgender women actually decreased by half (from four to two), a statistic that gives us hope and drive to continue building stronger communities and positive, healing responses to violence.  

“In March of 2007, the tragic murder of Ruby Ordeñana galvanized a community response, sparking coalition-building, community healing, and organizing. CUAV helped facilitate a space for transgender people of color, gender-variant folks, surviving family members, friends, and allies to come together and organize, demanding community awareness and sustainability of transgender services in San Francisco,” said Tina D’Elia, CUAV Hate Violence Survivor Program Director.  “Queer violence affects all communities—organizing for safety and bringing communities together to heal builds our collective resilience. We must never stop demanding social justice for all.”

 

This year’s report came almost 29 years to the day after the creation of CUAV was set into motion with the White Night Riots, a community response to the murder of Harvey Milk. Ardel Thomas, a member of CUAV’s Board of Directors and the Chair of LGBT Studies at City College of San Francisco, wrote a tremendous piece, From the Ashes of Harvey Milk, documenting the history of this pivotal moment in the legacy of CUAV and queer liberation.