SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Just as San Francisco ramps up for Pride, a nonprofit dedicated to helping LGBTQ+ youth in the city has received multiple death and bomb threats.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
LYRIC provides services to 3,000 members of the city's youth, including education enhancement, career trainings, health promotion, and leadership development, according to a release issued by the organization.
More recently, staff has spoken out and been supporting youth from other states seeking refuge from Anti-Trans legislation.
"Ever since then we've had a lot of noise and chatter kind of indirectly directed at us," said a spokesperson for the organization, Adam-Michael Royston in an interview with KCBS Radio. "But then on April 29th we received a bomb threat and the center was evacuated."
Then this week the center at 127 Collingwood St. received another bomb/death threat, prompting another evacuation from the office.
On Monday afternoon, the nonprofit received voice mail messages from someone reading a bible quote from Leviticus about "man shall not lie with man." Another message said "This time it's for real. You all are going to burn."
These calls led to staff evacuating. "We're working with SFPD's hate crime division to try to identify the source," said Royston.
The San Francisco Police Department did not confirm the nature of the investigation at the time of publication.
According to Royston, the staff was asked if they wanted to close the center to be safe and reset.
"They're like no, we should open," he said. "Our youth need us, and we know that."
"If we close, then the people who are doing this just win," he said.
"We want you to know the City of San Francisco has reached out to us and is evaluating the threats as Hate Crimes against LYRIC and our community. These threats only motivate us more to serve our constituents," LYRIC Executive Director Laura Lala-Chavez said in a note to staff.
"This will not deter us, it only motives us to do more to build a diverse and just society," she said.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
