Please don’t be silent.

  
You’ll post about us when you want to oppose our rights, but you won’t post to condemn those that massacred us. 
You’ll talk about how immoral you think we are, but you won’t tell us you care when we’re scared and hurting and facing increased risks of violence.
You’ll talk about how LGBTQ people are ruining *your* nation, but you won’t apologize for how your anti-gay attitudes have contributed to the violence and social oppression that we face every single day. 

You’ll pretend we don’t exist unless it fits your anti-LGBTQ agenda. We don’t exist unless you are putting us down or opposing our rights. We don’t exist unless you are preaching about our “debauchery” or accusing us of trying to ruin your lives. But when we suffer? Silence. It’s been the same exact pattern for decades. 

Whether it’s publicly or privately, show us that you acknowledge what happened to us and that you care. Pray if you want. But if that’s all you do, you’re not really helping. We can’t hear your prayers. We need solidarity and acceptance much more than prayers. We need to be acknowledged as human beings who didn’t deserve this. 

It can be as simple as “My prayers are with the LGBTQ community today. I’m so sorry that you were treated this way. Nobody should be murdered for who they are.” There! It’s that simple! Why is that so hard for so many Christians to say?! 

Perhaps it’s because they believe we deserved it, or it’s our own fault. Or perhaps it’s because they’ve finally realized that we, not them, are the ones who are actually being rampantly persecuted in the US, and they are too embarrassed to admit it. Perhaps it’s hard for them to support us because then they’d have to admit that they were wrong about the violence and oppression we face because of homophobia. Perhaps they’d rather be silent than admit they were wrong. 

Perhaps you have other reasons for being silent. But we need you to not be silent right now. It’s the worst thing you can do, aside from telling us that we deserved to be shot. Share a support meme or rainbow picture if you can’t get out the words. There are lots of ways to show solidarity even if you are grieving. Trust me, we know how hard it is. We live it all the time. If you can’t support us publicly, message us privately. 

This explains it well.