i feel like it is worth adding, in the light of this horrific event, that it is currently pride month. pride month is both a celebration of LGBTQ+ identities and a reminder of the suffering that we have gone through historically and still go through today. this massacre is one of many. the AIDS epidemic was a government-approved genocide of gay and transgender communities. members of the queer community are faced with systemic and individual violence each and every day. this attack was not an isolated incident; while it may be one of the biggest and most horrific individual instances in recent history, it is part of a larger pattern.

this is our reality.

please remember this, internalize it, if you are not a member of the LGBTQ+ community yourself.

let this be your wake-up call.