Remembering Orlando
"On June 12, 2016, a gunman killed 49 people and injured 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. He was killed by Orlando police after a three-hour standoff. This event marks the deadliest mass shooting by a single gunman in the United States, and the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in the United States. Pulse was hosting a Latin Night and most of the victims were of Hispanic descent."
49 Flores - Sorry We're Closed - Kelly Holohan
What a terribly sad day it was, I remember waking up to the devastating news of the shooting at Orlando's Pulse Night Club days before opening Adam's Nest in 2016 and watching on the news as gay men who had shown up to donate blood for the victims, were turned away.
The following day I drove to NYC to attend an event on the Highline for Blood Equality in partnership with GMHC featuring Jordan Eagles' Blood Mirror work that I had participated in. The goal of the project was to stop the discrimination against prospective blood donors and allow everyone an equal opportunity to donate blood. It was an opportunity to communicate to the community the need to help lift the ban on blood donation from gay and bisexual men. All the participants were on PrEP, had donated blood for Jordan's Blood Mirror work, and were interviewed and expressed their views through individual videos.
It was a bewildering few days, and eerily timely; and has certainly impacted the direction the shop has taken.
Today "the big gun policy battles of the Obama years — over expanding background checks, and closing the so-called terror gap — have been shoved aside in Donald Trump’s Washington, where a major fight looms over the National Rifle Association’s top legislative priority: federal legislation that would create national reciprocity for concealed-carry licenses, requiring every state to accept the permits of the other 49, regardless of differences in standards for who is eligible to bring a hidden gun into public spaces." It is more important than ever we keep our attention focused on Washington and ensure we fight for gun reform so that we can stop such a senseless tragedy from ever occurring again.
Last year I watched as my neighbors at Womencrafts worked with Gays Against Guns and marched in honor of the victims; I knew I'd find a way to do something slightly naughty and on-brand; SHOOT LOADS NOT GUNS seemed perfect! 10% of the proceeds from the sale of our SHOOT LOADS NOT GUNS t-shirts and hats will be donated to GAG to help in their fight for sensible and meaningful gun reform.
On this day we remember 49 lives cut short:
- Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old
- Amanda Alvear, 25 years old
- Oscar A Aracena-Montero, 26 years old
- Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33 years old
- Antonio Davon Brown, 29 years old
- Darryl Roman Burt II, 29 years old
- Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28 years old
- Juan Chevez-Martinez, 25 years old
- Luis Daniel Conde, 39 years old
- Cory James Connell, 21 years old
- Tevin Eugene Crosby, 25 years old
- Deonka Deidra Drayton, 32 years old
- Simon Adrian Carrillo Fernandez, 31 years old
- Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25 years old
- Mercedez Marisol Flores, 26 years old
- Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22 years old
- Juan Ramon Guerrero, 22 years old
- Paul Terrell Henry, 41 years old
- Frank Hernandez, 27 years old
- Miguel Angel Honorato, 30 years old
- Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40 years old
- Jason Benjamin Josaphat, 19 years old
- Eddie Jamoldroy Justice, 30 years old
- Anthony Luis Laureanodisla, 25 years old
- Christopher Andrew Leinonen, 32 years old
- Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21 years old
- Brenda Lee Marquez McCool, 49 years old
- Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old
- Kimberly Morris, 37 years old
- Akyra Monet Murray, 18 years old
- Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, 20 years old
- Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25 years old
- Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36 years old
- Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32 years old
- Jean Carlos Mendez Perez, 35 years old
- Enrique L. Rios, Jr., 25 years old
- Jean C. Nives Rodriguez, 27 years old
- Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old
- Christopher Joseph Sanfeliz, 24 years old
- Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24 years old
- Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34 years old
- Shane Evan Tomlinson, 33 years old
- Martin Benitez Torres, 33 years old
- Jonathan Antonio Camuy Vega, 24 years old
- Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37 years old
- Luis S. Vielma, 22 years old
- Franky Jimmy Dejesus Velazquez, 50 years old
- Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37 years old
- Jerald Arthur Wright, 31 years old
These lives were taken in the midst of a Saturday night out to have a good time, in what all of us would have believed was a safe space, and we must ensure that we continue to fight for sensible gun laws in this country. We cannot let tragedies like this continue.
#onelove #onepulse #oneorlando #WeWillNotLetHateWin #OrlandoStrong #PulseOrlando #WeStandTogether #LoveNotHate #GaysAgainstGuns #GAG #GAGisWatching #NotInMyState #NeverForget #GunReformNOW #TwoMenKissing #TwoWomenKissing #PulseNightclub #BloodeEquality #ScienceNotStigma #PrEP #PrepWarrior #HIVequal #UequalsU #BeTheGeneration #EndAids
