Memphians share heartache, outrage
Cooper-Young resident Jonathan Cole awoke around sunrise on Sunday at Methodist University Hospital where his mother was recovering from surgery. One of his best friends in Orlando texted him.
“It was a simple message,” Cole said. “It said: ‘We’re OK.’ ”
Cole didn’t know what the message meant until he went on Facebook and saw the news of the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub.
His friends, a lesbian couple, are frequent patrons of Pulse, the nightclub where dozens were killed.
“All I could think about all day (Sunday) was, had they gone, I have no doubt that they would have been shot,” he said. “I spent the day just holding back tears knowing how close they came.
I’ve been to that club with them.”
Cole, a board member of the Tennessee Equality Project Foundation, said bars and nightclubs are historically safe places for the LGBT community.
“Every LGBT person in this country — when they think about what to do on a Saturday night — is going to think about Pulse,” Cole said. “They’re going to wonder, ‘Should I risk going out and having a good time and just being?’ To that I would say you have to go. We can’t live in fear because of terrorists like the shooter and the people who lay the groundwork for all this hate and fear. They win if we change how we live. ”
Monday, Steve Stolzer sat on a stool in Dru’s Place, a neighborhood bar that welcomes all people and hosts karaoke and drag shows.
“These days it’s happening more and more often,” Stolzer said. “Unfortunately, shocked is not a word anymore. I’m a little more outraged that this is going on.”
The gunman in the Orlando attack, Omar Mateen, 29, saw two men kissing in Miami earlier this year before the shooting and became angry, his father Seddique Mateen, told NBC News. Omar Mateen talked to emergency dispatchers and claimed support for the Islamic State, USA Today reported.
Cole emphasized Mateen had access to deadly weapons and an intolerance shared by other religious radical groups.
“Radicalism is the problem,” Cole said. “It’s not that man’s religion.”
The Memphis Islamic Center in Cordova condemned the shooting and encouraged people to support the victims’ families.
“We stand with the victims of this senseless act of violence and mourn with the families of the victims and pray for their ease and comfort during this time of difficulty,” the Islamic Center said in a statement.
The center’s statement said the late Muhammad Ali represented the best of being an American Muslim, “not some mentally deranged shooter who killed innocent people. No religion, and especially our Islamic faith, condones such senseless violence.”
“We encourage all people, of all faiths, to donate to help with the immediate, short-term needs of the grieving families,” the center said.
Dr. Mohammed Moinuddin, senior adviser to the Muslim Society of Memphis, said the Orlando shooter was not considered a “good” Muslim.
“We are saddened and angered by what happened to these people,” he said.
More than 500 people attended an annual dinner banquet held by the Muslim Society of Memphis Sunday. The annual function brought people together of different faiths, not only the Muslim faith.
For attorney Maureen Holland, June is a time to celebrate Pride Month and the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on marriage equality for same-sex couples nationwide. Holland of Memphis represented plaintiffs in the historic case.
“We didn’t think it was going to be the month to mourn,” she said. “Now this is going to be a part of our history for this month. I think we will try to heal and move forward and try to figure out how to stop this violence.”