"We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion." — Max De Pree
A couple weeks ago I wrote an article called, "Why Homophobia Is Invalid." At first, it did not receive quite the hype I had intended for it. However, following the Orlando massacre, it has gotten more reads and shares within a couple days then within the first week I posted it. Why? Because it wasn't relevant to anyone before. It wasn't an issue until it was too late. It takes lost lives for people to care, and that isn't OK.
I believe it will take a lot of time for healing to begin. This isn't just a nightmare come true for the friends and families for the victims, but the entire LGBTQ community who will now fear for their lives. There will be less of an attendance to pride events and gay bars. It will essentially be harder for LGBTQ people to meet others like them and potential partners in public. LGBTQ people will always be looking over their shoulder and paranoid to do something as simple as hold their partner's hand in public.
This is where my anger sets in. We, as a society, are not swallowing this most recent of horrific events in a good way. There is, of course, no way to take this that is healthy, as we are never truly equipped to handle tragedy. We should be staying off social media for a while and just letting it sit with us. Thinking of the victims, thinking of their families and all the lives that ended prematurely. Cry a little... or a lot. Then, when our heads are clear and emotions controlled, social media can be a powerful tool for getting to the root of the issue and striving toward change to prevent this from happening in the future.
What I have been most frustrated with has definitely been the posts I've seen immediately following the massacre, which have included right-winged folks' initial concern resting with the idea that the gun laws could potentially change. But when you are more concerned about the loss of you being able to obtain a deadly assault rifle than you are with 50 lives being lost and 50 families forever being broken, I see a significant flaw in you. In fact, I see sadistic qualities and am very scared for you.
I'm also frustrated that people thought they had a compelling argument against LGBTQ people being permitted into the bathroom of their choosing... Are you still afraid of your well being? Well good. Be afraid like the LGBTQ people are afraid. The only difference is that in one scenario, people are dying in mass numbers, and in the other scenario, you are repulsed, and whatever other bigoted scenarios you've concocted.
At the end of the day, this is not about LGBTQ people, and this is not about homophobic people either. It's about us, collectively, as a society and how we accept (and don't accept) each other. This is where the issues lie. We should be working together, not against each other. In a world where you want to end a life rather than coexist with people who aren't like you, we should be striving for change. Quite frankly, we need a revolution.
