90.7 WMFE

The One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of more than 30 LGBTQ organizations, is convening a forum on Thursday evening that is aimed at combating racial and gender-based violence.

Nearly 80% of anti-LGBTQ homicides in 2016 involved people of color, according to the Anti-Violence Project, a national LGBTQ group.

The number does not include Pulse victims.

Christopher Cuevas, of QLatinx, said having this conversation can spark discomfort, but it’s necessary.

“Our goal is to begin to weave together a fabric that fosters peace within our community, and in order to do that we have to have a very honest conversation,” he says “We see that this is a national crisis. That the alarming rates that transgender people experience violence and in some cases death, we need to be responsive to these.”

The forum is from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Orlando Police Department.