SAN FRANCISCO, CA – On Tuesday night, a shooter took the lives of eight individuals – including six Asian women – during a spate of violence at massage parlors in the Atlanta area. The shooter also wounded a ninth person before the gunman was apprehended.

NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon has issued the following statement on the shooting and the distressing wave of anti-Asian violence that has been growing exponentially across the United States:

“On Tuesday night, violence claimed the lives of six Asian women in the Atlanta area. Standing against this violence requires naming it because this isn’t an isolated incident, but is part of a deeply disturbing rise in anti-Asian racism and violence. 

This is white supremacy. This is misogyny. This is anti-Asian tropes and stereotypes. This is the legacy of a national leader who callously placed the blame of the global pandemic on a single population of individuals and gleefully traded in racist rhetoric. 

As a broader community, we must be doing more to support and protect our AAPI communities – particularly women – in order to end this disturbing and growing spate of violence.”

NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon

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The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a national legal organization committed to advancing the human and civil rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community through litigation, public policy advocacy, and public education. Since its founding, NCLR has maintained a longstanding commitment to racial and economic justice and the LGBTQ community’s most vulnerable. https://www.nclrights.org