Two years ago today a terrorist walked into Orlando’s Pulse nightclub and shot 49 people to death. The club, a gay bar, was hosting Latin night, so most of the dead were LGBT and most were people of color.
Today, across the nation LGBT activists and allies are marking what was at the time the deadliest terror attack since 9/11, the deadliest anti-LGBT hate crime and deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, with protests demanding stronger gun laws.
They’re calling it National Die-In Day, and they’re being bolstered by the Parkland student survivors.
U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), running for re-election, appears to be among the lawmakers most-targeted:
Some are outside the Capitol, and still others are protesting in cities across the country.
“The National Die-In Day was organized by three students, Amanda Fugleberg, 18, and Frank Kravchuk, 21, both of Orlando, and Nurah Abdulhaqq, 14, of Douglasville, Georgia,” Beatrix Lockwood writes at The Trace.
“The three met in a text-messaging group in the days following the Parkland shooting, where they began talking about ways to build on the activism started by survivors,” Lockwood’s report continues. “But it wasn’t until they were introduced to each other on Twitter by one of those survivors, David Hogg, that the idea for a nationwide die-in solidified. Hogg quickly signed up as an advisor to the demonstration, helping the organizers access resources and promoting it on social media.”
Separately, other protests by LGBT activists and allies demanding action on gun control are taking place.
“‘Six hundred and twelve days,’ said Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the 2016 Pulse shooting and organizer of the Pulse Rally to Honor Them with Action at Orlando City Hall, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
“That’s how long it took for Pulse headlines to become Parkland headlines. … That’s how long it took for 49 lives lost to become 17 more. And in those 612 days, nothing changed.”
“[Gov.] Rick Scott was so busy trying to appease his gun lobby donors, he wouldn’t even wear a damn ribbon,” Wolf said, joining state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, in criticizing Scott for never having worn a rainbow Pulse ribbon in two years — while often wearing a red Marjory Stoneman Douglas ribbon.
Many are using the hashtags #HonorThemWithAction, #Pulse, and #EnoughIsEnough.