Mark Cuban has responded to the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida in a very big way.
In the wake of the tragedy, the billionaire businessman and owner of the Dallas Mavericks will donate $1 million to the Dallas police department in an effort to better protect the city's LGBT community, CNN reports. The donation will be used to fund additional patrols in Dallas's Oak Lawn neighborhood, which boasts a sizable LGBT community, as well as an estimated an estimated 16,000 hours of overtime for officers to enhance counter-terrorism efforts across the city.
In a press release, the 57-year-old entrepreneur stated that he was "proud to be able to help the city of Dallas."
Meanwhile, Dallas Police Chief David Brown praised the effort, vowing to "earmark and track the expenditure of these funds to ensure its effective use in creating a safe environment" for the city's LGBT residents.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings echoed those sentiments, praising Cuban as "a man of action."
"Once again, Mark has demonstrated his devotion to his city by stepping up in a time of need," he said in a press release.
Cuban has been an outspoken advocate of the LGBT community for quite some time. In 2014, he praised NBA player Jason Collins, who became the first openly gay male player to play in a major U.S. professional sport, noting, "I think it's no big deal and that’s exactly the way it should be."
Unfortunately, the move comes amidst concerns about the treatment of LGBT individuals by law enforcement. A 2015 report published by the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, cited a 2013 survey which found that 48 percent of LGBT victims of violence reported experiencing police misconduct.
The UCLA report also cited a second survey which found that 40 percent of gay and bisexual male survivors of domestic violence believed police intervention would be unhelpful or very unhelpful.
Here's to hoping that Cuban's donation will be used effectively.
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