LGBTQ Artists And Activists Responded To The Orlando Shooting With Love And Defiance
After the June 12 tragedy at Pulse nightclub, the queer community is standing strong.
Bars have a slightly different function in queer communities than they do for straight folks. We go there to have a good time, but we also go there to feel a little more free. On June 12, that freedom was threatened: a gunman walked into Pulse, an Orlando gay bar, and killed 49 people on a night dedicated to the celebration of the Latinx queer community.
LGBTQ folks are made of strong stuff — we’ve had to be — and in the 48 hours since our community was targeted with this hate crime, queer people across the world have come together in support of their own. L.A. Pride continued as planned on June 12, with performances from Big Freedia and Carly Rae Jepsen. “Y’all gotta continue to stand up and be who you are,” said Freedia during their show. "Be yourselves, but protect yourselves at all times, but don’t take no shit off of no motherfucker!”
In New York, also on June 12, there was a vigil on Christopher Street centering around the Stonewall Inn, the site of 1969's gay rights riots. Today, June 13, bars in London’s Soho will stop serving at 7p.m. for folks to gather on the street and join hands in a show of solidarity.
On social media, LGBTQ-identifying artists have responded with messages of strength and resilience in the face of violence. We have always had to fight to be allowed to love, and live our lives, and the following messages from artists showed that that’s not changing any time soon.