by Jeff B White
On June 12th, 2016, 49 lives were lost and 53 injured in a massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, sparking fear, outrage, and pain throughout the LGBTQ+ community, and the nation as a whole. In the midst of this tragedy, the National Equality Action Team (NEAT) heard the call from the community for action. At the request of the community, NEAT immediately launched the site #WeAreOrlando in cooperation with Equality Florida and others to give the world a place to find ways to take action to support those affected. NEAT will continue to honor this tragedy with a powerful new campaign around voter engagement later this month.
During the tragedy, NEAT found that local organizations were overwhelmed by the thousands of calls and emails from people around the world asking to help. WeAreOrlando became the portal where NEAT took this burden off locals, and provided resources and information to people on a global scale. In only 30 days, NEAT supported the organizers of over 1000 events on every continent except for Antarctica. The site became the central hub for people to find ways to support the victims and survivors.
To address the issues and needs within the Latinx community, NEAT soon launched the site SomsOrlando to provide the same resources, tools, and assistance in Spanish. Later when representatives from the Latinx community asked to take over the site because they were better equipped to handle the issues specifically within their own communities, NEAT fully agreed.
In the aftermath, NEAT and others knew that “thoughts and prayers” were not enough and began to coalesce around the theme of “#HonorThemWithAction,” and HonorThemWithAction.org was born. NEAT, Equality Florida and others pledged to work with partners around the country to organize events that uproot hatred, discrimination, and violence -- especially against Latinx and LGBTQ+ people.
Since then, #HonorThemWithAction has taken on many forms. One year the campaign facilitated 30 days of actions for hundreds of organizations, the faith community, gun violence organizations, and individuals to participate in. Another year, NEAT hosted create-your-own action events where people chose the action or the cause that they want to support. This year, #HonorThemWithAction is focused on voter engagement in the 2020 election. Later this month, NEAT will launch a powerful voter engagement campaign that will allow individuals to volunteer from home to verify with a voter their registration and sign them up to vote if needed. In addition, with the current pandemic, volunteers will educate voters on the benefits of voting from home and how they can sign up. Want to know more or get notified when you can volunteer? Sign up at theNEAT.org/subscrib
On June 12th, 2016, 49 lives were lost and 53 injured in a massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, sparking fear, outrage, and pain throughout the LGBTQ+ community, and the nation as a whole. In the midst of this tragedy, the National Equality Action Team (NEAT) heard the call from the community for action. At the request of the community, NEAT immediately launched the site #WeAreOrlando in cooperation with Equality Florida and others to give the world a place to find ways to take action to support those affected. NEAT will continue to honor this tragedy with a powerful new campaign around voter engagement later this month.
During the tragedy, NEAT found that local organizations were overwhelmed by the thousands of calls and emails from people around the world asking to help. WeAreOrlando became the portal where NEAT took this burden off locals, and provided resources and information to people on a global scale. In only 30 days, NEAT supported the organizers of over 1000 events on every continent except for Antarctica. The site became the central hub for people to find ways to support the victims and survivors.
To address the issues and needs within the Latinx community, NEAT soon launched the site SomsOrlando to provide the same resources, tools, and assistance in Spanish. Later when representatives from the Latinx community asked to take over the site because they were better equipped to handle the issues specifically within their own communities, NEAT fully agreed.
In the aftermath, NEAT and others knew that “thoughts and prayers” were not enough and began to coalesce around the theme of “#HonorThemWithAction,” and HonorThemWithAction.org was born. NEAT, Equality Florida and others pledged to work with partners around the country to organize events that uproot hatred, discrimination, and violence -- especially against Latinx and LGBTQ+ people.
Since then, #HonorThemWithAction has taken on many forms. One year the campaign facilitated 30 days of actions for hundreds of organizations, the faith community, gun violence organizations, and individuals to participate in. Another year, NEAT hosted create-your-own action events where people chose the action or the cause that they want to support. This year, #HonorThemWithAction is focused on voter engagement in the 2020 election. Later this month, NEAT will launch a powerful voter engagement campaign that will allow individuals to volunteer from home to verify with a voter their registration and sign them up to vote if needed. In addition, with the current pandemic, volunteers will educate voters on the benefits of voting from home and how they can sign up. Want to know more or get notified when you can volunteer? Sign up at theNEAT.org/subscrib
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