LAWTF Supports Stop The Hate Week

The Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) stands in support of this week's Screen Actors Guild- American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) proclaimed STOP THE HATE WEEK. Many in the festival's leadership are members of this union and stand behind the union's position.

Read the statement below:

Founded in 1993, LAWTF has consistently offered multicultural performers of diverse voices who represent ethnic cultures that include Asian, African American, Latino, Jewish, and Middle Eastern communities, as well as LGBTQ, and seniors in their many individual voices- and we will continue to do so.

We stand in solidarity and support of all who are experiencing hate crimes and most recently the blatant Asian American hate crimes, as well as the continued brutal assaults on the African American community and other communities of color. We celebrate the many contributions made by all in this country; in every facet and industry, particularly the arts.

We especially stand firm as allies to the Asian American community during this identified week of support and use our platform to repel and lend our voice to Sop The Hate. We use our platform to celebrate and honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May and beyond. We further denounce and express our outrage against hate and racism of any and all cultures and groups at any time.

We also stand with the Black Lives Matter Movement and mourn those that have been murdered and ask that the universe protect and comfort those that they leave behind.

We look to our lawmakers to take legislative action to bring legal recourse to address these wrongs, as our citizens continue to speak up and make our voices heard.