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

Contents:

• PULSE WAS MORE THAN JT A GAY CLUB: IT WAS A PLACE WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE TO HI
• ‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS
• I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

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

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. But this week, the cy is also memorializg a years ago today, a gunman opened fire Pulse nightclub, a gay club Orlando, killg 49 people and woundg more than 50. ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 13: Law enforcement officials vtigate at the Pulse gay nightclub where Omar Mateen allegedly killed at least 50 people on June 13, 2016 Orlando, Florida.

Across central Florida, the 49 victims killed and dozens more survivors of the massacre at a gay-iendly nightclub were remembered wh the unveilg of a 44-foot (13.

‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS

(AP) — Across central Florida, the 49 victims killed and dozens more survivors of the massacre at a gay-iendly nightclub were remembered wh the unveilg of a 44-foot (13. 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). On the back pat, I once had a iendly argument wh a gay man who said we “were no different than straight guys.

” Pulse, and other predomantly gay plac, beme opportuni for figure thgs out—who we were, how we wanted others to see as Saturday night wound down–around 2 A.

History happened at a gay club Central Florida on Lat night. As iends and fay of the victims trawled for answers, they were met by more homophobia and hate—a reason gay clubs such as Pulse are still important to the LGBT muny. ”Wolf had sought refuge Florida 15 years ago when he was done wh ral Oregon, the childhood home where he suffered embedd racism and homophobia on a daily basis.

I'M A GAY ARMY OFFICER—QUEER TROOPS MT FIGHT BACK

Among his motivatns for wrg the book was to reclaim tersectnaly om DeSantis and others on the right who seek to hijack explas: “I wanted to give a human flavour to what tersectnaly actually looks and feels like and what feels like to experience racism and homophobia at the same time. Growg up a nservative majory whe town was difficult bee the same kid who would ll me the N-word on one day would ll me a homophobic slur on another day and I was nstantly navigatg the tersectns of those two thgs. Last month DeSantis’s mpaign released an anti-LGBTQ+ vio assailg Tmp for his past support of gay and transgenr ments: “It is a sry time to be not jt LGBTQ but LGBTQ and Black this state and ultimately that’s the tent.

— Across central Florida, the 49 victims killed and dozens more survivors of the massacre at a gay-iendly nightclub were remembered wh the unveilg of a 44-foot -wi mural, the rgg of church bells and an overnight vigil at the se of the Pulse club on Monday, the seventh anniversary of the tragedy. At the start of the ceremony, the Orlando Gay Chos and Adrian To performed the song “Rise Up” honor of the victims and all who survived, as well as the first rponrs, muny anizers and trma teams that worked to save those wound by the shootg.

In Florida, the current backlash agast the queer muny stems om last year’s passage of the Parental Rights Edutn bill, which crics dubbed “don’t say gay, ” argug aims to lim discsns of genr and sexualy schools.

An Amerin-born man who’d pledged allegiance to ISIS gunned down 49 people early Sunday at a gay nightclub Orlando, the adlit mass shootg the Uned Stat and the natn’s worst terror attack sce 9/11, thori said. While the vlence uld have h any Amerin muny, “This is an pecially heartbreakg day for our iends who are lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr, ” he said.

A msage posted Arabic on a dark web se associated wh the ISIS news agency Amaq said “the armed attack that targeted a gay night club the cy of Orlando the Amerin state of Florida and that bore more than a 100 killed and wound was rried out by an Islamic state fighter. She said the language is nsistent wh prev ISIS announcements and that the Arabic word for gay was ed rather than an ephet normally ed by ISIS. Pulse scrib self as “the hottt gay bar” the heart of Orlando.

Saturday night was Lat Night at Pulse, one of the cy's bt-known gay clubs, and the place was packed wh patrons both gay and straight, young and not-so-young, om the U. At least two men said they teracted wh Mateen on gay datg apps.

But "the FBI has found no evince so far to support claims by those who say Mateen had gay lovers or munited on gay datg apps, " acrdg to the Los Angel Tim. 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.