On behalf of the Daily Wildcat, we proudly affirm our dedication to the LGBTQ+ community.

We here at the DW believe in the importance of listening to those who have been silenced by others. We recognize and stand with our many staff members who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. We are committed to taking the time and putting in the effort to educate ourselves and others whenever we can on the many issues our society faces today, which is why we believe the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community cannot be ignored.

Despite the fact that this community has arguably become more socially acceptable than ever before, LGBTQ+ individuals still face high rates of discrimination all around the world, especially here in the United States. According to True Colors United, a 2017 study from Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago showed that LGBTQ+ youth “are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than non-LGBTQ youth.” The most common reasons for these cases of homelessness are family issues. This just scratches the surface of the sheer amount of violence and discrimination that the LGBTQ+ community faces every day.

Just over the summer, the Trump Administration set a regulation that means — as The New York Times put it — “the federal government no longer recognizes gender identity as an avenue for sex discrimination in health care.” In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, this administration decided that transgender people do not deserve protections against discrimination in health care.

We recognize that transgender people — especially non-white transgender women — are often the most targeted group of the LGBTQ+ community. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, “In just seven months, the number of transgender people murdered in 2020 has surpassed the total for all of 2019.” 

These are all disgraceful realities. We have zero tolerance for any and all marginalization of and discrimination against anyone due to their gender identity or sexuality as well as their religion, race, age or nationality. The Daily Wildcat is proud to be an inclusive workplace.

The U.S. is a country that is supposedly a representation of freedom, but that has yet to be the case. As the women’s rights and civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer once said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.”

Editorials are determined by the Daily Wildcat Opinions Board and are written by its members. They are Editor-in-Chief Sam Burdette, Opinions Editor Kayleigh Cook, Managing Editor Pascal Albright, Copy Chief JT Thorpe and Assistant Arts & Life Editor Ella McCarville. Follow the Daily Wildcat on Twitter