It was a gay club.
It was an American club.
It was a human club.
These are not competing statements; or, rather, they should
not be. They are each true and they each
carry weight that needs to be acknowledged and respected.
First, and perhaps foremost, the events in Orlando hold
special significance to an often persecuted group – a community that often
struggles with acceptance from the world around them, including their families
and friends. It was a direct attack on a
group of people who – despite recent legal advancements and social acceptance –
struggle every single day to feel safe and accepted. A group that cannot show affection for a
loved one in public for fear of becoming a target. A group that loses so many of its members to
violence and to suicide. Victims of
bullies and hate-mongers, conservatives and busy-bodies, people who use their God
as a reason to judge and degrade. This
group has a claim on the violence that erupted in Orlando and they have a right
to cry out in anguish and fear and anger.
In a sacred place where they should have been safe to be themselves,
safe and comfortable and secure in their own skin, free to love and be loved,
they were gunned down. So yes, they will
raise their fists and plant their rainbow flags and demand answers. That is their right, because it is THEIR
club.
But that same event in Orlando holds special significance to
Americans. It is the worst mass shooting
to take place on American soil. I do not
say that lightly, because although I acknowledge the atrocity of Wounded Knee
(which I have seen connected to Orlando as a correction), that moment in
history was a whole other ugly and violent beast. It did not technically happen on United
States soil and it was not a lone shooter.
It was something else – something equally horrifying and something that
deserves acknowledgement as a chapter in our history of which we should be
ashamed and aware. But this shooting –
this moment in Orlando – belongs in a different category. The category of events where one single
American decided that others must die for reasons that are beyond the
understanding of good-hearted people.
Those who died were Americans.
They were doing what Americans do – celebrating time away from work,
listening to music, dancing, and fellowshipping with others. They were enjoying a night out on the town,
letting go of obligations and responsibilities.
They were spending hard earned money, laughing and dancing and being
alive. And they were gunned down. Torn from life, torn from those who loved
them, robbed of what is promised every American – life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness. And so, yes, I
will cry and raise the stars and stripes and plant it next to their rainbow
flag. I will demand answers. That is my right, because as an American, it
is OUR club.
And that same event in Orlando holds special significance to
humans around the world in our global community. The same people who wept for the bombings in
Paris will now weep for the shooting in Orlando. They will shine the lights on their
buildings, hold their signs, and pray that we, as a race of beings, can find a
way to stop killing each other, stop hating each other, stop blaming everyone
else for whatever ails us.
That same event in Orlando holds significance for Muslims,
American and foreign. It holds
significance for the Latino community because of the special event at Pulse
that night. It holds special
significance for the first responders and investigators who tried to do their
work while blocking out the desperate, unrelenting sounds of cell phones that
would never be answered. It holds special significance for those who are still
– and always will be – reeling from Sandy Hook, from Virginia Tech, from the
theater in Colorado, from the church in South Carolina. It holds significance for those who will
never hear the voices of their loved ones or erase the images of violence and
destruction from their minds. It holds
significance for the people of Orlando, who now join the ranks of cities and
communities that have seen the blood and tears run in their streets and feel
helpless to respond, react, or recover.
It matters to all of us, for a thousand reasons, some of which we cannot
voice.
We do not need to take away from one another’s claims to
plant our flags with theirs. We do not
need to erase one community when we declare membership in another. By saying, it’s an AMERICAN club, we should
not say it is NOT a gay club. It is
both. The intent is admirable – to claim
the LGBQT+ community as part of US….but we cannot do so in a way that silences
the unique struggle that this particular community goes through every single
day in a thousand ways, each more painful than the last. They are our brothers and sisters, but their
struggle is one that we can only imagine and while we can unite, we cannot
silence even as we try to combat.
It is a significant event for all of these people, for all
of these communities, for all of these reasons.
Not one should silence the others. Not one needs to be or should be
forgotten. They all wish for the same
thing – an end to the violence, an end to the hatred, an end to the suffering. Let our flags fly together and let our voices
unite. Protect the LGBTQ+ community,
protect Americans, protect humans.
