The Orlando shooting had me feeling a million different feelings and asking a million different questions at once. Was this a terrorist attack? How many people died? Did my friend who works at Disney World get hurt? What was going to happen now? However, it wasn't until I saw my friend Ray's post about it; that I realized if I was feeling the way I was feeling, it must be 100 times worst for the LGBT community. I know some people are sad, some people are hurt, some people are scared, and others are even happy this horrible event happened. Yet, if you are not apart of the LGBT community, you can't possibly understand how they are feeling about this, so I wanted to find out. I want to help take the focus away from who is running for president, what weapon was used at the scene, what the ethnicity was of the victims/shooter, and focus on how the LGBT community is feeling; because in all honesty this is about them. I asked six of my close friends who are members about this tragic event.

How did you hear about the event?

Matt D: I heard about the event on Twitter, a couple of people I knew lived down in the area so they were talking about it the following morning.

Sharmaine: I learned about the event through Facebook. I woke up and saw that one of my friends had confirmed she was safe, and I immediately did some digging until I found out about the shooting.

Dalton: I saw information about the event on my local news station and so I did further research to discover what actually happened.

Matt M: I received alerts from CNN to my iPhone.

Tyler: I was laying in bed with my boyfriend and it was maybe 7:30 AM. I sleep late but he's in med school so he's always used to waking up super early. The sound from a video woke me up and he grabbed me like he was scared so I asked what's wrong and he handed me his phone with the article pulled up on Facebook.

JaredLance: I had a woman from my church come up to me Sunday morning, hug me and say "I just want you to know that I love and support you." Followed by a text from my best friend that said "I don't know what I would do if that had been you at that bar in Florida last night. I can't believe someone would do that. I love you

What were your first reactions and feelings?

Matt D: I was in, like, shock almost. I had been living in a sort of bubble thinking that after our community have been on the up for so long I didn't think something of this magnitude was going to happen. Definitely shocked and in disbelief when I initially heard about it.

Sharmaine: My initial reaction was filled with sadness. It was an awful thing that happened to good people who didn’t deserve it. To hear that so many people passed away and were injured, made me feel contempt for the shooter. I kept on asking myself how someone could show no remorse while they took so many lives away. I kept on asking myself how someone could hate a group of people so much to make murder worth it.

Dalton: Honestly, my first reaction was confusion. I always get confused what I see what seem to be hate crimes or any crime in general because I can't wrap my head around how somebody can cause that much harm to somebody else. After I read more into what happened I was extremely disappointed and upset because nobody in this world deserves to be killed in such a tragic event.

Matt M: I was (and still am) in disbelief, confused, saddened and fearful. I also feel betrayed after learning that the shooter is believed to be gay as well. Betrayed because he went into several LGBT bars and became custom to that environment. He found comfort in a setting that many from the LGBT community only feel safe at. By that I mean, it's disgusting he sought to be welcomed by the very same people he wanted to kill in an environment LGBTQA members feel they are safe.

Tyler: My first reaction was that it was a joke. I thought that we left this violence back during the Stonewall Riots of New York and the Upstairs Lounge on New Orleans. It was disbelief that in minutes so many lives with their own plot line and background were erased. There was a slight fear because of the knowledge that this could have happened anywhere but that ounce of fear was drowned by the ocean of rage and hatred for our political system. Hatred for the NRA. Hatred for politicians that spout bigoted nonsense against LGBTQIA people and defend access to these weapons of mass destruction but turn around and sit and pretend they care about people like me after we are murdered. Hatred for the phrase "thoughts and prayers" because that's all we will get. Just thoughts and prayers to a being you say hates us. No action.

JaredLance: My heart fell into my stomach. I felt sick and light headed all at the same time. I didn't believe it. I didn't want to believe it.

How do you feel about being apart of the community that was attacked?

Matt D: I am frightened to be honest, not that I'm going to be targeted, but that people have such hatred in their hearts for people with differences that they had to do something like this. I am frightened by the support the killer has received and how this event and those comments will mold the upcoming generation.

Sharmaine: Honestly, I feel terrified. I’m terrified that because of who I am, I’ll be hurt by people who can’t understand, but at the same time, I know that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. This terrible, terrible crime made us stronger as a community. It’s made us speak louder and become prouder of who we are as people.

Dalton: Let me answer this question be saying that being gay is very hard. There's constant judgment and reticule against the LGBT community where I live and when I heard about this shooting I felt a little violated. I know history has shown that people have been killed for being a part of the LGBT community but I've never known anybody to single out a large group of people and end their lives for being who they truly are.

Matt M: At first I was angered and scared to be part of a community that was targeted. I reached out to several LGBT pages/organizations and offered my help in anyway I could. I also have a following on Twitter which consists of a lot of members who identify in the LGBTQA community. I posted positive affirmations which seem to have gained a lot of attention. I'm still saddened by this tragic event, I am however VERY thankful that the LGBT community is back in the news. After the SCOTUS ruled in favor of marriage equality I think a lot of people shrugged off the LGBT community not really knowing the other implications and struggles members of the LGBT community go through. Ex: Being fired for being LGBT, Not being able to adopt, Being refused service, etc. Seeing the LGBT community back in the media and on social media platforms has affirmed me that things will get better. Corporations, friends, family members, and strangers have come together to mourn and become stronger. This is the first time I've seen so many pro LGBT posts, since the SCOTUS ruling.

Tyler: I feel like the community needs work. There's so many problems from within. You look around and there's racism and prejudice within our own community. "No blacks no Asians no fats no femmes" is echoed all around us. Sexism, transphobia, ageism, racism, misogyny. I feel that the community needs to band together and stop fighting itself and being so self loathing because it's almost as if the people that want to see us dead don't even have to do anything. We spew enough internalized hate FOR them. We can't go around demanding respect from straight people and religious people and politicians without first addressing our own flaws and banding together. That being said I do feel like it was a wake up call that no matter how masculine or rich or whatever you are, you are still a target to ~them~ regardless. I feel like this will start conversation and move us toward being more of a true community.

JaredLance: I feel hurt. I feel empty. The fact that people tried to make it about gun laws and erase the fact that it was a hate crime makes me extremely irate. I have friends in Orlando that were supposed to be there that night. Thank God that they weren't. If I had lost any of them I don't know how I would be right now. I wasn't there, yet I feel personally attacked as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. This attack just fuels my fire to be an activist towards our civil rights even more and fight for the freedom that we as Americans and human beings deserve.

What else would you like to say about the event?

Matt D: Other than I wish my condolences for the victims and the families, I just want to say to appreciate you who you, because you are unique, and you are special. Standing as a community united we can weather any storm and climb any mountain.

Sharmaine: My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones. No one deserves to die over something that makes them happy, and no one deserves to grieve over their friends and family taken so soon. I hope that as time goes by and people talk about this more, the world will be more accepting of the LGBT community.

Dalton: I'd just like to say that I think the answer to this problem isn't necessarily gun control. I know a lot of sources are saying that if guns were limited to the public then this wouldn't have happened, but, in my eyes, it's not the guns that are doing the killing, it's the people who choose to act on their irrational feelings. So I believe there is no answer to an issue like this except to become more aware of it and be vigilant of people's actions. One of my favorite quotes is "where there's a will, there's a way" and this truly captures my feelings toward shootings and gun control. I believe that if someone wants to shoot and kill somebody, no matter how harsh the gun laws are, they will find away. As sad as that sounds I firmly believe it's true because history tells many stories and this is one of them.

Matt M: While the effects of this tragedy will be felt for decades to come and go into history books for the largest mass shooting in US modern history, I am still happy to be part of a community who stands up and defends others. No one can replace the ones who we have lost, but we can make sure that each of their deaths means something that will be remembered for an eternity.

Tyler: My final angle is that if you want to see things change, GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. Protest, March, Rally, Petition, most importantly GO OUT AND VOTE FOR POLITICIANS THAT CARE ABOUT THESE ISSUES THAT AFFECT US. You can talk all day long but you need to hit these people that oppose us where it hurts; in the courtroom.

JaredLance: We lost 49 brothers and sisters that night. What I can only hope and pray for is that we as a community don't lose Hope and we learn to grow closer as a family. We will overcome this tragedy and find triumph because we all know that after a storm comes a rainbow. #WeDeserveToLove

As you can see, the Orlando shooting has effected these six individuals differently, but it has still drastically impacted their life's a great amount. We need to stop focusing on things like gun control or who is running for president and candidates are bad mouthing one another. We need to divide our full attention and focus on how we can help individuals grieve, how we can help bring attention to the matter that this was an attack on the LGBT community, and that theses were regular people! Living,breathing, human beings, being a target and dying because of who they love.