GLAAD released videos of LGBT leaders, civil rights leaders, and labor leaders discussing the negative impact of the stop and frisk policy in order to mobilize these movements for a Father’s Day march that will advance a shared agenda of equality and justice. Watch all the speakers from the Press Conference, including Rev. Al Sharpton, NAACP President Ben Jealous and Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum:

Join GLAAD on Sunday, June 17th, as we stand with more than 100 LGBT organizations, the NAACP, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network, and 1199 SEIU to oppose police harassment of LGBT people of color at The Silent March to End Stop and Frisk. Meet at West 110th Street & Lenox Avenue at 3pm. More details about the march...

The videos follow on the heels of LGBT organizations from around the country, convened by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), joining civil rights leaders, labor leaders, and elected officials at the Stonewall Inn to declare support for the increasingly visible campaign against stop and frisk, and participation in a Father’s Day silent march to end racial profiling, which has been organized by the NAACP, National Action Network, and 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East. The historic Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village is where a backlash against police harassment in June 1969 launched the modern LGBT rights movement.

“LGBT people of color are twice as likely to experience police harassment simply because of who they are or what they look like,” said Herndon Graddick, president of GLAAD. “The time has come for communities to work together to ensure that every person has the ability to walk the streets of their community without fear of harassment—from  fellow community members and those who we entrust to keep our communities safe.”

"The coming together of civil rights leaders and LGBT leaders on this issue is a historic union with broad social and political ramifications. If we fight for each others’ issues it broadens and strengthens each respective movement," said Rev. Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network, a convener of the Silent March Against Stop and Frisk and Racial Profiling, and MSNBC host, who endorsed marriage equality in 2004.

"The African American and LGBT communities have long histories of being harassed by the police," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President and CEO, a convener of the Silent March Against Stop and Frisk and Racial Profiling. "In this silent march to end racial profiling we will stand together to tell City Hall and NYPD that discriminatory policing policies like stop-and-frisk will not be tolerated."

“Too many people have been victimized and harmed by the stop and frisk policy, and we plan to march in record numbers on Father’s Day to show that discrimination, harassment, and profiling based on identity is unacceptable. The fight against stop and frisk is a LGBT fight, a civil rights fight, a labor movement fight, a fight for justice and equality—a fight that unites all of us as one movement,” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

The videos feature an array of speakers including:   RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, LGBT Table Convener,   LGBT Table Co-Chair, Sharon Stapel for the New York City Anti-Violence Project and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Projects  LGBT Table Co-Chair, Jeff Campagna  for RWDSU Communities United for Police Reform Coordinator, Joo-Hyun Kang,  National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton, Streetwise and Safe, Chris Bilal, Survivor of Stop & Frisk City Council Speaker Chris Quinn  National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Director of Public Policy and Government Relations Stacey Long,  NAACP President Benjamin Jealous   Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum,  Empire State Pride Agenda Board Chair Louis Bradbury,  SEIU 1199 President George Gresham,  Human Rights Campaign National Field Director Marty Rouse, Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City President Melissa Sklarz,  Gay Men’s Health Crisis, CEO Marjorie Hill  Campaign to Stop the False Arrests, Survivor Robert Pinter

Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

National Action Network President Rev. Al Sharpton

NAACP President Benjamin Jealous

Streetwise and Safe, Chris Bilal, Survivor of Stop & Frisk

Click the video below to watch the full playlist.

Information for Sunday's March:

Father's Day
Sunday, June 17th - march begins at 3 pm

Media Information

Media Contact:
Daryl Hannah
Hannah@glaad.org
646-871-8012