Like the rest of our country and many people around the world, we are still mourning the loss of 49 people in our community during last week's mass shooting in Orlando. We are so moved by the outpouring of love and support during this tragedy, which inspires us even more to address the root causes and work towards prevention, in addition to our work supporting local LGBTQ youth in Orlando with counseling and other crisis response services.
Given our focus on serving marginalized communities, particularly LGBTQ youth, we are committed to long-term solutions that increase knowledge and understanding about gender, sexuality and religion. To help tackle these complicated issues, we are supporting the work of national LGBTQ Muslim leaders who have been striving to build acceptance of gender and sexual diversity within Muslim communities and who have been working to support and connect LGBTQ Muslims. Here's a special message from our Founder via Instagram about why our work together is so important in bringing change:
"I started @HappyHippieFdn to share a message of acceptance, especially of people who are different than you. After the Orlando shooting, this is more true than ever. We stand by EVERYONE in the LGBTQ community, and that’s why teaming up with LGBTQ Muslim leaders to develop programs that will support LGBTQ Muslim youth and promote understanding around gender, sexuality and religion. These are TOUGH issues during a tragic time, but by supporting each other we can continue to spread acceptance, hope and unity #LoveisLove #QueerMuslimsExist#OrlandoStrong #OneOrlando"
Stay tuned for more updates from our work and thank you from all the Happy Hippies around the world for the love and support!
