At allgo, we are deeply saddened by the news of two women who were killed in Southeast Austin, Texas on Monday. To learn of the murder of two women of color, one who was openly gay, affects us not only as a community but as individuals on a personal level.
What can one say in this circumstance? We are angry, we are hurt, we are scared we are grieving. The myriad of emotions is absolutely necessary as this is a time of extreme grief and sadness, as these killings have rocked our worlds, opened up old wounds, and created new ones. Although, the news reports are sketchy what we do know is that two Latina women are no longer with us. We also know that in one day a young woman lost her girlfriend and her girlfriend’s mother. This surviving victim is left to try to recover from the actions of her own father because he disapproved of her gay relationship.
We offer our sincerest condolences to all of the family members, friends and community members affected by this tragedy. We feel compassion for all of those who were unfortunately involved in this situation. We send love.
In this moment, what we can do is try to heal and reach out to those who are hurting. In light of this allgo member Rev. Virginia Marie Rincon, M.Div, BLSW is offering pastoral and counseling support to the Austin LGBTQ community during this difficult time. Virginia is bilingual in English and Spanish and an ordained minister in our community. Contact the allgo office at 512-472-2001 to contact Virginia.
allgo participated in the candlelight vigil that took place at Out Youth Thursday, April 21st. Additionally, allgo will be hosting a community forum on April 28th at 6:30 p.m. at a 5604 Manor in Austin, TX. This will give us an opportunity to come together to share as a community what this means to us and to explore together about what our community has and what it needs to prevent and respond to homophobia, hate, and violence.
allgo Community forum
Thursday, April 28th 6:30 pm
Location: 5604 Manor
Please take good care and do not hesitate to contact us for any reason.
In Solidarity,
allgo, a statewide queer people of color organization
701 Tillery Box 4
Austin, Tejas 78702
512.472.2001
512.385.2970 fax
www.allgo.org
