Terror in Orlando
ON 12 JUNE, IT WAS A typical Saturday night for the patrons of the Pulse nightclub: no doubt downing shots of Tequila, dancing to Latin beats, trying to catch the eye of some hottie. Such venues have a unique importance for many LGBTQ people. Outside these spaces, they are widely judged by the rest of society. They may have to hide who they really are; they don’t dare hold the hand of their loved one, for fear of inviting abuse; maybe of being seen as too gregarious or ‘camp’. But here you can be yourself without fear of judgement or abuse. You’re safe.
That refuge was savagely overrun by hateful terrorism. Omar Mateen hunted down his victims and murdered them. They hid in toilets and he shot them, laughing hysterically as he did so. One survivor crawled through the bodies of his friends. Brenda Mccool, who survived cancer, was on a night out with her son; it ended with her giving her own life to save his. Eddie Justice, a 30-year-old accountant, texted his mother to say, ‘Mommy I love you,’ telling her, ‘I’m gonna die.’ Juan Ramon Guerrero and Christopher Leinonen were lovers who reportedly planned to get married: instead, they were both buried.
The grief of many of the parents will endure forever. But in a chilling reminder of the bigotry we still face, one father refused to collect his gay son’s body.
In the aftermath, there was a debate about how the atrocity should be framed. As news of the massacre continued to trickle out, one Sky News presenter rejected the idea this was an attack on LGBTQ people: it was, rather, an attack ‘against human beings’ and ‘the freedom of all human beings to try to enjoy themselves’. This could be described as the All Lives Matter approach – the response of some to the Black Lives Matter movement who wish to deflect from the specific injustices experienced by black people. If a synagogue had been attacked and 49 Jewish people who were worshipping in a safe space had been murdered, it would rightfully be regarded as an attack on Jews.
In London, a city whose Muslim mayor campaigned mpaigned and voted for LGBTQ rights, thousandsousands – LGBTQ and straight alike – gatheredthered in Soho, the capital’s LGBTQ heartland, artland, the day after the attack. 2016 is a year ear in which hatred has often reigned supreme:preme: but the love and solidarity in the aftermath of Orlando showed it has not won yet.