WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 14, 2018) – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and same gender loving (LGBTQ/SGL) people, including people living with HIV/AIDS, released a statement today from NBJC Executive Director, David J. Johns, following the announcement that the family of 22-year-old Anthony Wall has hired national civil rights and personal injury attorney Benjamin L. Crump of Ben Crump Law, PLLC to investigate the violent chokehold and controversial arrest of Walls, a Black gay man. Walls was recently arrested by local police at a Waffle House in Warsaw, North Carolina during an incident that was caught on video.

For as long as there have been Black people, there have been Black LGBTQ/same gender loving (SGL) people. Disappointingly, because we face the additional barriers that come with homophobia, transphobia and fear and hatred of things not “traditional” or “heterosexual,” that truth is often hidden or erased altogether. And as it relates to the transgender community, far too often, we find ourselves speaking of injustices—from discrimination to disproportionate health risks, and too often, violence.