ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) and GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today announced a new partnership to counter anti-LGBTQ+ extremism and hate in the United States. The two organizations are joining together to sharpen their focus on hate and extremism targeting the LGBTQ+ community, which has experienced thousands of hate crimes in recent years, according to the FBI. This partnership will increase ADL and GLAAD’s ability to monitor, expose and disrupt anti-LGBTQ+ hate by hiring a new analyst dedicated to tracking and countering threats against the LGBTQ+ community.
“The LGBTQ+ community is under attack in the United States,” said Oren Segal, Vice President of the ADL Center on Extremism. “ADL has tracked disturbing incidents and trends in anti-LGBTQ+ hate in person and online in just the last few months, including physical violence, death threats, intimidation, doxing, conspiracy theories, misinformation and more. We are grateful to partner with GLAAD, an organization that has led the fight for LGBTQ+ equality for decades, to support a new role dedicated to understanding and countering this pernicious threat.”
The partnership will enhance both organizations’ abilities to track extremist activity and hate incidents, produce reports and resources to educate key stakeholders and the public about trends and developments, and alert law enforcement and community organizations to threats targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and institutions.
“ADL is a true leader in tracking and stopping hate and extremism and this is an urgent time to protect the LGBTQ community by further growing this impactful work. LGBTQ people face alarming and disproportionate levels of hate and harassment on social media and it’s rapidly moving offline,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “You can draw a direct line from anti-LGBTQ content and accounts on social media to real world violence: from extremists showing up at drag shows to vandalism at LGBTQ community centers to bomb threats being called into children’s hospitals that care for transgender youth. This new partnership will help GLAAD and the entire LGBTQ movement in identifying and reporting the growing rates of anti-LGBTQ violence before it happens.”
ADL has worked for decades to protect the LGBTQ+ community, including filing amicus briefs encouraging courts to end discrimination, promoting legislation like the Equality Act and playing a leading role in securing enactment of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) in 2009 – the first time gender identity was included in a federal civil rights law.
For nearly 40 years, GLAAD has been at the forefront of cultural change, accelerating acceptance for the LGBTQ community. The GLAAD Media Institute tells LGBTQ stories that create change and is a go-to resource on LGBTQ representation for leading journalists, brands, entertainment, gaming creators, elected officials, and other notables. GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Project produces an annual Social Media Safety Index, which this year gave failing grades to five leading social media platforms on LGBTQ safety. The program works with platforms on LGBTQ policies and enforcement, such as TikTok’s recent move to prohibit promotion of conversion therapy and to protect transgender users from targeted misgendering and deadnaming.
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ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.