June 12, 2016 America was shaken by a tragedy that occurred in Orlando, Florida.

In the early morning hours (2 a.m. EST) of that Sunday a gunman entered a gay night club, Pulse, and opened fire.

The gunman has been identified as Omar Mateen, 29, of St. Lucie, Florida. Mr. Mateen murdered 49 people and wounded 53.

This mass shooting is the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history and the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since the falling of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Before Mr. Mateen was killed by a SWAT team he called 9-1-1 and pledged allegiance to ISIS, an international terror organization.

ISIS or ISIL has become a focal point of American foreign policy over the recent years because of an increased spread of their ideology throughout the Middle East. Although they are not internationally recognized as a nation, they have or had control of geographic portions in Libya, Iraq, and Syria. The terror organization is to be considered as radical jihadist because they have contorted views of the Islamic religion. They inflict terror among civilians, murder innocent people, oppress society, and are powered by the fear of people all over the world. They have an alarming presence on social media, utilizing these platforms to spread their hateful message. This organization encourages domestic terrorism in nation-states across the globe, proclaiming many attacks acted in their name. Given the increased fear since the terror attacks on 9/11 that were committed by other groups of radical jihadists or terrorists such as Al-Qaeda, many Americans are alarmed.

Truth be told, an effective strategy to defeat this terror network, and others alike is complex. This Middle Eastern rooted network in particular is sporadic, which aspires for world domination and is well funded by those economies in the regions they inhibit. More so by oil than any other resource. The capital this terror network holds explains why they are so well equipped militarily in their geographic portion of the world. Otherwise, members of ISIS are lone-wolf or single actors across the globe. Those of which believe in the same ideology will sometimes carry out attacks like the one we experienced in Orlando, Florida to express loyalty to ISIS.

One way we could defeat this ideology is through education. If we educated society about the dangers these hateful messages are promoting we could effectively reduce casualties across the globe. The LGBTQ community has been ravished by this terror attack, shining example on the many ways ISIS spreads terror and hate. We should increase our air-strike campaign in the Middle East, potentially eliminating their various resources of money, weapons and terrorist. Let’s not put our service members on the ground, yet, because we have means of technology that could defeat this network. One major issue we see that is alarming is the recruitment tactics ISIS uses to encourage people all across the globe to join. They are increasing their numbers of population and indoctrinating their youth this hateful way of life. We are setting up for a showdown, but we should not let that scare us.

We are American Patriots. When we see brothers and sisters amongst us fall, we pick up the pieces and prepare others to get back on their feet. No incident is too small for us to compromise, for America is the light shining at the end of the tunnel. Today we stand with the LGBTQ community, one that has experienced an oppressive past because of the hateful messages spread about them. We must stand to end this ignorant viewpoint because at the end of the day, LGBTQ members are patriots too. They survived the AIDS crisis in the 80’s, they survived inequality across the board, they advocated for their rights and beliefs and they are winning. Today, we will survive the Orlando terror attacks because we know that there is nothing we can’t do to win for our brothers and sisters, and hate crimes should be left in the past. Most importantly, we stand for justice. Justice will be won because together, as Americans, we can win anything. We are home of the free, because of the brave. People fear us because we encourage individuality and non-conformity. We stand for what’s right, and we will win this war because we are right! Nobody on this earth should feel oppressed or treated differently because they are different than the societal norms. Let’s utilize our power, for the greater good America; it’s time to wake up!

I stand with Pride, holding the LGBTQ community in my heart. No life should be taken by a coward who opens fire to prove his point. I empathize with the thoughts of Americans because collectively, we know in our heart what it takes to make progress. Let’s create a world where our children can live without fear of going into a night club, without fear of being oppressed and without fear of living to their God-given potential. May we stand in the face of danger, look it straight in the eyes and say “You messed with the wrong nation”. United we stand, divided we fall. Today we are American’s and we fear nothing.