“The vile rhetoric may be loud, but our love is louder, and our numbers many times greater…”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The following statement is from Jean Hodges, President of the PFLAG National Board of Directors:

“This weekend in Charlottesville, we saw a group of white supremacists use violent words, and even more violent behavior, to ridicule, harass, debase, and injure people of color, people of the Jewish faith, and other marginalized communities. Thousands took to the street, including allies, one of whom, Heather Heyer, was killed in an act of what many people, including Virginia Gov. McAuliffe, are rightly calling domestic terrorism. We mourn her death, as well as those of the two state troopers who died in the line of duty.

To add insult to literal injury, our own President took more than 48 hours to call the perpetrators–white supremacists, Nazis, and the KKK–and their actions repugnant, and this only after two days of leaders from across the country doing so themselves.

We will not equivocate:

PFLAGers everywhere, LGBTQ and ally, denounce the actions of the hateful cowards who came to Charlottesville with the intent to demoralize and harm, and we align ourselves with all marginalized communities. The vile rhetoric may be loud, but our love is louder, and our numbers many times greater. We will unite in that love, and with our numbers, to stay strong and speak out loud against white supremacy, anti-semitism, and bigotry in all forms.”

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PFLAG is the nation’s largest organization uniting families, allies, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. PFLAG is committed to advancing equality through its mission of support, education, and advocacy, and has nearly 400 chapters and 200,000 supporters crossing multiple generations of American families in major urban centers, small cities, and rural areas in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. To learn more, visit pflagchapters.wpenginepowered.com, like us on Facebook (/pflag), or follow us on Twitter (@pflag) or Instagram.