Thirty-five LGBT groups have signed a letter of support asking the federal government to get involved in the case of Trayvon Martin, a Florida teen killed by George Zimmerman.
Zimmerman was found ‘not guilty’ in July after facing murder charges. Since that verdict, civil rights groups have protested Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which the defense used in its argument. Zimmerman said he shot the 17-year-old in self defense, after he had been punched to the ground.
Led by the National Black Justice Coalition and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, some of the groups listed in the letter include the American Civil Liberties Union, GLSEN, GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign.
“Trayvon Martin deserves justice and his civil rights,” the letter reads. “We support the organizations and community leaders who are urging the federal government to explore every option to ensure that justice is served for Trayvon and that his civil rights are honored and respected.”
The letter made a connection between the 2012 death of Martin and anti-gay violence victims such as Brandon Teena, a transgender male killed and raped in 1993, Matthew Shepard, a gay man beaten and tied to a fence in 1998, and Sakia Gunn, a 15-year-old lesbian stabbed to death in 2003.
