WASHINGTON-- As the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on cases concerning the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to anti-LGBT discrimination, hundreds of LGBTQ advocates from across the country are participating in the DC SCOTUS Discrimination Rally and calling out the efforts to legalize discrimination against marginalized communities, including Nakisha M. Lewis, a speaker at the rally and an advocate with the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black LGBTQ/SGL people including people living with HIV/AIDS. In support of the rally, Lewis and David Johns, NBJC Executive Director released the following statements:

WASHINGTON-- Bailey Reeves, at 17-years-young, and Bee Love, at only 18, became the 17th and 18th trans people murdered in the United States this year. Bailey, a trans woman of color, was found dead in Baltimore, Maryland, over Labor Day weekend. Bee, a Black trans woman, was found with her hands tied, shot and burned to death in her car in Clewiston, Florida. Too many trans women, and especially too many Black trans women are being murdered and it is beyond time that as a community we stand together and call for an end to these heinous acts.