I’m scared. I’m a gay woman, and I’m scared. I didn’t think LGBTQ people in my generation had to be scared anymore. I didn’t think mass violence against us would happen in the United States. But it did and now I’m scared for my life, for my friends, and for anyone queer.
It’s easy to blame this all on ISIS, and say it had nothing to do with the victims being queer. But the shooter didn’t choose any highly populated area, he chose a gay nightclub. That wasn’t a random decision. He chose the Pulse club because he wanted LGBTQ people to die that night. That’s why homophobes and bigots and conservative legislators trying to take away our rights helped kill those 50 innocent queer people in Orlando. They didn’t shoot them, but with their words and actions they told everyone that our lives don’t matter. They said they were sending their “thoughts and prayers” to Orlando, but thoughts and prayers are worthless when everything else you do is hateful.
Every person who says gay people don’t deserve to get married, who thinks transgender people should use the bathroom on their birth certificate, who calls people “dykes” and “faggots”, helped send the message that it is okay to kill us.
Every person who doesn’t like to see gay people showing PDA in public, who doesn’t like to see queer characters on television, who thinks we don’t deserve representation in the media, is saying we aren’t worthy of being treated equally.
Every person who thinks LGBTQ people don’t deserve human rights, who thinks we’re sinners, who spreads and preaches their message of hate, is showing that queer people deserve to die.
Maybe they didn’t to help kill us. Maybe they didn’t mean for 50 innocent people to die. But if they don’t think that their hate helped that happen, they need to wake up. Hate is hate, whether you’re the one holding the gun or not. They didn’t pull the trigger, but they’re telling people like Omar Mateen that it’s okay to.
I shouldn’t have to live my life in fear because of who I am. No one deserves that. Everyone should be able to feel secure, especially in a country like the United States where freedom and safety are emphasized. But homophobes have taken that away from us.
I’m scared, but I know I can’t be. That’s what the bigots want. They want us to stop showing kissing in public, to stop having pride celebrations, to stop coming out. They want us to hide. We can’t do that. We can’t let them win. We’re not going get over this massacre any time soon. Our lives matter, our deaths matter, and we’re not going to stop talking about it.
