Pulse Was More Than Jt a Gay Club: It Was a Place Where We Didn't Have to Hi | GQ

Contents:

• IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS SCE THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG, AND GAYS AGAST GUNS WON'T LET THE WORLD FET
• SCENE OF MASS SHOOTG MORE THAN 'JT ANOTHER GAY CLUB'
• PULSE WAS MORE THAN JT A GAY CLUB: IT WAS A PLACE WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE TO HI
• 50 AD, ISLAMIC TERRORISM TIE EYED ORLANDO GAY BAR SHOOTG

IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS SCE THE PULSE NIGHTCLUB SHOOTG, AND GAYS AGAST GUNS WON'T LET THE WORLD FET

It’s been nearly two years sce the mass shootg at Pulse nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people — wily believed to be an act of aggrsn agast the club’s LGBTQ clientele and “unniably a homophobic hate crime.

In fact, he allegedly had no ia Pulse was a gay club, and simply Googled “Orlando nightclubs” after fdg that secury at his origal target, a major shoppg and entertament plex, was too high, as reported by.

A radil Islamic terrorist targeted the nightclub, not only bee he wanted to kill Amerins, but orr to execute gay and lbian cizens, bee of their sexual orientatn. ” The followg day at a North Carola rally Tmp said, “We want to live a untry where gay and lbian Amerins and all Amerins are safe om radil Islam, which, by the way, wants to murr and has murred gays and they enslave women. The shooter didn’t target LGBTQ people — he didn’t even realize Pulse was a gay-oriented nightclub, askg a secury guard at the club where all the women were jt before he started shootg.

SCENE OF MASS SHOOTG MORE THAN 'JT ANOTHER GAY CLUB'

On Saturday, June 12, a sea of veiled, whe-clad activists om the direct actn group Gays Agast Guns showed up to the Christopher Street Piers—a se wh a storied and plex queer history—to hold space for the 49 people who were murred at Orlando's Pulse nightclub 2016. "Remember the 49, " read one prott sign, and that was the ethos that fueled the group's march om the Piers to the Stonewall Natnal Monument, where numero speakers—cludg Gays Agast Guns foundg member Jay W. Gays Agast Guns is particularly vted potg out the disproportnate effects of gun vlence on LGBTQ+ people, and particularly queer and trans people of lor; below, fd the chillg yet spirg imag om the group's Pulse Remembrance Day prott.

Photographed by Michael GeeBen Williams—one of the origal members of Gays Agast Guns—joed the first weeks followg the massacre. They joed the Gays Agast Guns monstratn solidary. Walker, one of the foundg members of Gays Agast Guns.

A pair embrace after exg Parliament Hoe, a gay bar and rort where people were gatherg on June 12, 2016, the wake of the mass shootg at the Pulse nightclub Orlando, Florida. One of the worst mass shootgs US history claimed 49 liv at Pulse, a gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, on June 12, shootg occurred on the venue's Lat Night, and many of those killed were gunman was killed by police after a three-hour standoff, while people trapped si sperately lled and msaged iends and was the adlit mass shootg the Uned Stat until one year later, when 58 people were murred at a Las Vegas untry mic ncert. In Orlando, people grappled wh the magnu of the horror: One man armed wh an asslt rifle and a pistol managed to kill 49 people and wound another 53 si a gay nightclub.

PULSE WAS MORE THAN JT A GAY CLUB: IT WAS A PLACE WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE TO HI

One of the owners of the Orlando nightclub where 50 people were shot ad early Sunday started  to promote awarens of the area's lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr muny. ”Pulse refers to self as "not jt another gay club. "Beg raised a strict Italian fay, beg gay was owned upon.

"It was important to create an atmosphere that embraced the gay liftyle wh dér that would make John proud. "Police: Mass shootg at Orlando gay nightclubAcrdg to Poma's LkedIn profile, she works for RB Management, a pany that operat three tablishments: Wildsi Bar & Grille rtrants, Paco's Italian Ristorante and Pulse Orlando.

"Pulse is scribed on the GayCi webse as havg "three different areas to mix up, cludg an outdoor pat. " Orlando wrapped up s annual week-long Gay Days ftival on June 6.

50 AD, ISLAMIC TERRORISM TIE EYED ORLANDO GAY BAR SHOOTG

As many as 150, 000 the LGBT muny attend area theme parks, gay nightclubs and special events. It was the 25th anniversary of Gay Days, one of the largt gay pri events the world. So he equented Pulse, a beloved gay nightclub known for star-studd drag shows and bachata-sountracked “Lat Nights.

“What happened at Pulse was … kd of labeled as a gay issue, when realy wasn’t. But before “Pulse” me to mean “one of the adlit mass shootgs US history, one that primarily targeted people of lor at a gay nightclub, ” Pulse was synonymo wh home. Upon enterg Pulse, the iends joed their chosen "fay, " a term members of the LGBT muny often e to scribe this club, one of the most popular gay venu central Florida, was more than jt a place to buy a few drks and flirt wh members of the same sex (or whomever we found attractive that night).