We’re invited to pray and work together to end violence and hatred against vulnerable communities.
- SDA Kinship
- Sep 21
- 5 min read
OCTOBER 3-5, 2025
With hate crimes at near-record levels—affecting Black, Jewish, Asian American, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and transgender people most often—we are asking Bay Area faith communities to join us in observing Solidarity Sabbath / Solidarity Sunday / Solidarity Jumu‘ah. This ecumenical and interfaith initiative is dedicated to standing against violence and hatred in our communities and world.
Recent incidents, from antisemitic attacks and racist graffiti to alarming increases in anti-LGBTQ+ harassment and violence, remind us that hateful words often escalate into hateful actions. At a time when political violence and social division are rising, it is more important than ever for people of faith to make our opposition to hate visible and to embody the love of Christ.
Stand in solidarity with our vulnerable nighbors by wearing a rainbow ribbon to your religious meetings, prayers and services, both in person and online on Solidarity
Sabbath/Sunday/Jumu’ah (and every day). Hold the community in your personal and congregational prayers. Some communities may choose to go further, hosting a special film or educational program on understanding and countering hate and violence.
While people of faith may have differing stances on issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity, we can all agree that violence, hate and harassment are not acceptable and that we must work together to make our communities safer for everyone.
Solidarity Prayer
The following prayer may be incorporated into your religious services
Let us pray together: Dear God, We come to you now to join our spirits in prayer. We pray for an end to violence against our lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer neighbors. We pray for understanding where there is none, peace where there is heartbreak, and joy where hope is fleeting. Thank you, God, for creating each of us in your image. May we see you every time we look at one of your children. O God, hear our prayers. Amen.
Please feel free to share this prayer with your congregation, in your services, online, or on social media. To download the video to incorporate in your services, please visit: www.welcomingcps.org/solidarity-sunday. Feel free to adapt any resources appropriate to your faith tradition and local setting.
Hate Crimes: Groups Impacted by Violence
As of 2025, hate crimes in the United States remain a deeply troubling indicator of societal division and targeted violence. While reported numbers fluctuate year to year, the overall trend shows persistent — and disproportionately high — harm inflicted on marginalized communities. Over the past decade, reported hate crimes have more than doubled, with anti-Black, antisemitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ incidents consistently among the most prevalent.
📉 FBI Data: Hate Crimes by the Numbers
The FBI’s 2024 Hate Crime Statistics, released in September 2024, recorded 11,862 hate crime incidents involving 13,829 offenses, marking an increase from the previous year. The breakdown of bias motivations for single-bias incidents shows:
Race/Ethnicity/Ancestry: 52.5%
Religion: 22.5%
Sexual Orientation: 18.4%
Gender Identity: 4.1%
Anti-Black or African American bias remains the most frequently reported, totaling 3,004 cases in 2024. Anti-Latino hate crimes remain at historically high levels. Anti-transgender crimes increased 55% between 2020 and 2024, making up the large majority of gender-identity motivated hate crimes.
🏳️🌈 LGBTQ+ Communities Under Siege
GLAAD’s 2025 ALERT Desk Report paints a stark picture: between May 2024 and May 2025, 932 anti-LGBTQ+ incidents were tracked across 49 states and D.C.—an average of 2.5 incidents per day. Of these:
52% targeted transgender and gender non-conforming individuals (485 incidents), a 14% increase from the previous year
84 injuries and 10 deaths were attributed to violent attacks motivated by anti-LGBTQ+ hate
208 incidents involved vandalism or theft of Pride flags and symbols
83 incidents targeted drag performers and venues, including 16 bomb threats
Transgender individuals remain four times more likely to be victims of violent crime than their cisgender peers. These figures reflect not only physical violence but also a surge in hate speech, disinformation, and political rhetoric that fuels hostility. GLAAD’s tracker also noted a 57% increase in incidents targeting state and local government officials, coinciding with the introduction of 575 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in 2025.
🕊️ Faith, Advocacy, and the Path Forward
The data underscores a painful truth: hateful rhetoric leads to hateful actions. As communities of faith and conscience, there is a powerful role to play in countering harmful and hateful narratives. By fostering dialogue, educating ourselves and others, and showing radical love and solidarity, we can help build safer, more inclusive spaces.
🔍 The Reporting Gap
It’s important to note that FBI data relies on voluntary reporting from local law enforcement agencies—many of which do not participate. This means the actual number of hate crimes is likely much higher than reported. Continued advocacy for better data collection and accountability is essential.
WAYS TO OBSERVE SOLIDARITY SABBATH
Register and plan your congregation’s participation
Pray for victims and for an end to hate and violence
Share a message denouncing violence, hatred, and harassment directed against marginalized groups.
Educate yourself, your children, your faith community, your colleagues, and your friends about the problem of hatred and violence, and the need to stop violence against all people
Worship in love and solidarity with another faith community marginalized by hatred and violence
Share a message wearing the ribbon on social media with a message denouncing violence, hatred, and harassment of marginalized communities
Wear your Solidarity rainbow ribbon at all times (on Zoom), and especially at worship services (rainbow ribbon not required to participate).
Take the Solidarity pledge.
Solidarity Prayer
from DignityUSA
God, You are the Creator and Lover of all.
You wish us to live in solidarity with each other and to rejoice in our diversity.
We pray that all Your lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and straight children may experience justice, enjoy peace and spread Your love throughout the world.
We pray in the name of God, who welcomes all to a holy circle of friendship. Amen.
Solidarity Pledge
from DignityUSA
I pledge:
I will work for civil and human rights for all people, including gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, queers and intersex. Civil rights are not special rights.
I will seek to stop jokes and unkind language about anyone, including gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, queers and intersex when spoken in my presence. Words that hurt and bigotry are not funny.
I will speak out against any slander, debasement, lies or dehumanization of anyone, including gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, queers and intersex including when spoken by political or religious leaders. Violent speech leads to physical violence.
I will work to stop physical violence against anyone, including violence against gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, queers and intersex. Violence against any person is violence against all people.
RESOURCE: SURVIVING HATE
FORGE heard from over 1,000 trans/nonbinary people about their experiences with hate violence and their strategies for safety and coping. In this conversational webinar, FORGE staff share initial findings from this survey, engage in discussion with each other and with the audience on what those findings mean for our world and our work, and gather input from participants on what comes next.
