One year ago, my, like many others, body filled with shock as the news about the Pulse shooting spread. 49 innocent lives were taken, and thousands stood in fear. 365 days later and I still cannot fully comprehend the madness the occurred that Sunday in Orlando.
As a member of both the LGBT+ and Orlando community, I immediately felt my soul fill with fear. The act of hate filling a community that represents nothing but love made me sick. I was confused, I was hurt, and I was scared. It was a direct attack on everything I, and millions of others, stand for, and watching it unfold sent chills down my spine.
Yet in these 365 days since the shooting, the community has banded together to show everyone that we are stronger than a statistic. We could have fallen apart, but we chose to combat every act of hate with a million more acts of love. We united together to create something much more powerful. We created hope.
Orlando and the LGBT+ community have come together to show that nothing can take us down. This city has taken love to a whole new level, promoting nothing but peace and unity in everything that they do. Every rainbow, every heart, and every set of wings that have been plastered on storefronts and buildings bring us closer and closer together. Every drop of blood donated, and every dollar raised shows that our community is here to love and support each other. Every mural painted and vigil hosted remind us of those that were lost, and everything we are fighting for.
Today we remember the 49 angels that were taken from us, and unite together to combat hate.
The Pulse shooting has changed me, the city of Orlando, the LGBT+ community, and the world. It has shown us what a community can do when it is united over a tragedy, and comes out stronger than before.
There’s not a day that goes by where we don’t think of this awful tragedy, but our hearts fill with hope knowing that our community has and continues to do everything in it’s power to protect us. We were invaded upon, but immediately combatted the hate with love, and today we are Orlando Strong.