On Sunday morning at about 2AM, a murderer killed 50 people, and injured over 50 more, at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando Florida. Pulse is a gay nightclub. It was Latinx night. This month is Pride. The murderer purposely slaughtered people in one of their few safe spaces during their month of support and celebration.
We at The Interconnected are members of, friends, and family to many in the LGBTQIA+ community, who we love. We’re friends with Latinas and Latinos whose community lost brothers and sisters. We have Muslim friends who face even more increased racism because the murderer may have been Muslim.
We mourn today. We’re devastated, depressed, and mad as hell.
But being mad as hell isn’t enough.
We invite you, as members of our interconnected society of web developers and web users, to join us in helping our many communities:
- Give blood.
- Support the victims of the Pulse shooting
- Support local Orlando LGBTQ organizations such as The Center Orlando, The Zebra Coalition, and Orlando Youth Alliance.
- Register to vote.
- Listen to those around you, especially those who are hurting or mourning today. Let them know you’re there if they need you – then be there.
- Push back on those using hateful rhetoric or stereotypes of any type, including your own. “I didn’t mean it that way” doesn’t cut it.
- Buy books and music and anything else you can from LTBGQ, Latin, and Muslim artists, developers, and creators. Listen to and support voices that are not your own.
- Consider the other suggestions from this fantastic thread by Ana Mardoll.
- Contact your representatives in Congress about gun control if you, like we, feel that automatic weapons with massive clips don’t have a place in American safety.
- Support The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety or other organizations that will help us prevent future murders.