To the Family and Friends of the Victims of the Orlando Shooting
By: David Zorkocy
The tragedy in Orland Florida is too evil, too dark, and too vile to be put into words. As a Christian and as an American I have always felt deeply for the victims of shootings, that have taken place over the years I have been alive, but as a gay American, this one holds a special kind of pain for me. It's hard to explain. The gay community is very tight nit. We have endured so many of the same life experiences, the same struggles and the same joys that in many ways we are apart of a great family. When something like this happens it's as if you have lost a part of your community, a part of your family. You say to yourself "wow... that could have been me" or "I hope no one I know was visiting Orlando" It's very very real.
To be fully honest I didn't want to write this. In fact even as I type I desire to close my laptop and go to bed, or play a game, or watch a movie... but I can't. I have to cope with this in some way. I can't pretend it didn't happen. Because it did happen. It happened to my community... to our community. It happened in a place where I never imagined that I would have to be worried. I have never feared going out to a club or bar... but I will now. That makes me sad.
That is the nature of terror... to cause fear, to rob us of joy in our day to day life. We aren't just fighting against terrorists, we are fighting to protect our peace... our way of life. We must not bow to fear. We must rise up against it. Stand strong and push back. We must reject any ideology or belief system that encourages violence against gays, against women, or against the American way of life. We must do what America does best. We must stand together and unite against homophobia, against violence, and against terrorists and their world views, that seek to undermine our freedom of self expression and to destroy us.
Despite this evil tragedy, I am encouraged by what I have seen in the aftermath. For years we gays stood alone. Criticized by everyone... slowly we built our community, to be safe among ourselves. Then we made allies and slowly but steadily people began to see that we were not terrible people. That gays have enriched culture and brought forth artists, and poets, architects and singers. That gays had enriched so many peoples lives. Some of our adversaries remained however and for years held back marriage equality and other issues. Though this tragedy is sick and is a demonstration of every kind of evil, from its ashes I have seen a beautiful thing be born. From one end of the world to the other people are standing with us. From Republicans to Democrats people are standing with us. Atheist to Christian people are standing with us. For the first time in world history, the entire civilized world is standing with the gay community. That I find to be a beautiful thing.
To the families and friends of those who died in Pulse that night... be encouraged. The tragedy you are facing you may never fully recover from. How can anyone heal from the loss of someone they love? However, the pain will lessen in time. In time, I hope you will come to realize that those who have fallen would not want you to feel pain. They would want you to mourn for them, but then to heal. To continue on with life, having learned so many life lessons that you can use to help others who have felt loss. It is okay to cry, but you must not be defeated. Also understand that though none of them went to Pulse that night with the intention of becoming a martyr... they are. They have passed on and in doing so have united the planet in a way I have never seen to stand with us. This will have ramifications for the rest of time. This will change hearts and minds that might not have been changed before, and when those people have children who come out as gay they will be far more accepting of those children. Which could help lower suicide among young gays in future generations.
I mourn with you... the whole world mourns with you. You are never alone. We will stand with you against corrupted homophobic ideologies. We will stand with you, we will pray with you, and we will not leave you. Together we are stronger and now... we are very strong.
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