I'm going to begin by saying that it's not my intention to alienate any specific group of people, nor am I writing this piece to place myself as some sort of martyr at the head of the LGBT community. I speak for nobody but myself, and I don't pretend that my opinions and thoughts represent my people. However, I think there are some important things that need to be said in the wake of the worst single-perpetrator mass shooting in American history.

The attack on the Pulse nightclub was not just an attack on the LGBT community, sure. It was an act of terror against the United States, with the clear intention to inspire fear, divide our country, and provoke further violence. Nobody can claim that the sole intent of the attack was to butcher a group of queer men and women. But despite that, the attack WAS a horrific act of violence that specifically targeted a gay nightclub. It was an act of terror, yes, but it was also a hate crime against innocent members of the LGBT community. That is why I and many other queer men and women are so personally affected, despite having no direct connection to the crime or to the victims. In each picture of the victims, I see myself. I see someone who was targeted and murdered purely because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that is both alarming and heartbreaking.

Despite incredible cultural advances in the past decade or so, this horrific tragedy is another example of how the LGBT community is still marginalized and discriminated against. Homophobic slurs are still thrown around in our day-to-day speech and in our popular music, queer characters in media are either the butt of jokes, incredibly one-dimensional stereotypes, or die tragically to murder or AIDS. Children are still afraid to openly be themselves because of old-fashioned prejudices and hate. Our safe spaces are vandalized and attacked, and queer couples can't walk down the street without being subject to judgment and possibly violence. We're reminded every day that although the world is slowly moving toward general acceptance, we're often still considered second class citizens.

It isn't fair to diminish the specific impact that the Orlando massacre has had on the LGBT community. We've experienced years and years of hardship and adversity, and the attack was a very obvious reminder that we aren't out of the woods yet. Until we can fully accept each other regardless of our preferences or identities, horrific things like this will continue to happen - maybe not on such a large scale, but every man or woman killed for being queer is another attack on all of us.

Yes, I mourn the loss of life as a human, and as an American.

But first, I will mourn it as a gay man.