Politics & Government
Anti-Defamation League Bolsters Efforts To Address Anti-LGBTQ Hate
"The goal is first and foremost to make sure that every potential partner is comfortable with both what we're doing and how we're doing it."
January 15, 2023
In 2022, hatred toward the LGBTQ+ community manifested in different ways, from legislation targeting LGBTQ youth, mass shootings at queer nightclubs, and attacks on children’s hospitals that provide gender-affirming care. To that end, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which specializes in civil rights law and has roots in fighting antisemitism, has been ramping up its efforts to counter LGBTQ-centric hate.
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The ADL Philadelphia team and the national organization’s Center On Extremism, which “monitors, exposes and disrupts extremist threats,” plans to accomplish this by working towards building a diverse coalition in the Philadelphia region for the purpose of addressing hateful attacks against LGBTQ and other marginalized communities. ADL leadership has reached out to William Way LGBT Community Center and the Independence Business Alliance with the goal of strengthening relationships with the local LGBTQ community. ADL offices in other U.S. cities are working toward building similar partnerships.
“Diverse coalitions are really addressing those internal issues between one community and the other,” said Santos Ramos, assistant regional manager of ADL Philadelphia. “[We’re] trying to make sure that all of those conversations happen so that all of the communities understand and stick together when the situations turn. I think every community has to come together because the threat is coming from the same places, which are far right extremist groups like Proud Boys and Patriot Front.
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ADL plans to hold a civil rights committee meeting on Jan. 19, 2023 to have representatives from community organizations get acquainted with the ADL and the work of its Center On Extremism. The ADL and potential partners will also have conversations about policy and the work that ADL Philadelphia is doing in Pennsylvania, like continuing to fight for broadened hate crimes legislation.
“The goal is first and foremost to make sure that every potential partner is comfortable with both what we’re doing and how we’re doing it,” Ramos said.
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