“It’s where we can be ourselves, develop relationships, be with your community,” he said. “Clubs are terribly important to the LGBTI community,” said Ken Darling, owner of the Minneapolis club LUSH. Sunday’s attack on the Pulse nightclub has prompted an outpouring of reminiscence and reflection on the vital roles that such clubs have played for many lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people globally. This “is a tragic illustration of the legitimate safety fears that those in our LGBTI community live with every day,” said Mike Rawlings, the mayor of Dallas, where extra police were assigned to a neighbourhood that is a hub of the local gay community.Ī vigil and memorial for victims of the Orlando nightclub shootings was held near the historic Stonewall Inn in New York. In several other cities hosting events on Sunday - including block parties in Boston and a festival in Washington - authorities beefed up the police presence. Sunday’s massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, grimly changed the equation, stirring communal fears and swiftly prompting tighter security at gay pride events. The gay, lesbian and transgender community has seen violence before, from Harvey Milk to Matthew Shepard, and a growing list of transgender women. Mateen, of Fort Pierce, Florida, died in a gunbattle with police. “The punishment for sexuality is upon God and he will decide on them, not humans.” “I was not aware that he had hatred … and has gone to the gay club and killed 50 people,” he said. Seddique, the father of the gunman said he was sorry for his son’s actions but that “the punishment for homosexuality is upon God”. ‘PUNISHMENT FOR HOMOSEXUALITY IS UPON GOD’
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Seddique Mir Mateen says he is sorry for his son’s actions. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described it as “an attack on the right to be proud of who you are and who you love”. But as I said earlier, it is an attack on all of us.” “It was clearly directed by a murderous hatred of gay people. “This was a murderous attack on gay people in this nightclub,” he said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday condemned the attack. we have to all band together and realise we’re still the strong community we’ve always been”. One LGBTI member who attended one of two Sydney vigils told 2UE: “We’ve had an intruder come in. Mr Pycroft said organisers were overwhelmed by support shown to the LGBTI community. Several candlelight vigils were held around Australia last night to pay tribute to the victims of the shootings, as rainbow flags were flown at half mast. “The sheer fact that an event of this magnitude would happen in a location like this has left the community in a state of shock … there’s a lot of sadness.” “A gay club is something many associate in the LGBTI community as a safe space. “I think the community is in a state of shock more than anything,” he told. The attack at Pulse nightclub took place amid several nationwide events celebrating LGBTI Pride Month.Ĭhris Pycroft of the NSW Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby said Australia’s LGBTI community had taken the attack “very personally”. He told his father he had been disturbed by seeing two men kissing in Miami. The Orlando massacre was a targeted attack on gay people, according to LGBTI community leaders. Gunman Omar Mateen had been to Pulse nightclub at least 12 times before Sunday night. I said, ‘Hey,’ and he turned and said, ‘Hey’, and nodded his head,” Mr West said, according to the Times.
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Mr West said he saw Mateen crossing the road towards Pulse when he dropped a friend off to the club early on Sunday morning, when the massacre took place. One regular at Pulse, Kevin West, said Mateen messaged him on and off for a year, but they never met up. It has also been revealed Mateen used the gay dating and chat app Jack’d over the past 12 months, the Los Angeles Times reports. “When he had gotten married he had confessed to me about his past that was recent at that time and that he very much enjoyed going to clubs and the night-life and there was a lot of pictures of him so … I feel like it’s a side of him or a part of him that he lived but probably didn’t want everybody to know about.” “He did feel very strongly about homosexuality. Sitora Yusufiy was asked by CNN reporter Erin Burnett if she thought her ex-husband Mateen was gay. Omar Mateen, who is responsible for the deadliest US shooting in history, had reportedly visited the Pulse gay nightclub at least 12 times prior to the massacre.
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THE gunman who killed 49 people and injured 50 in an Orlando gay nightclub used a gay dating app and his ex-wife thought he might have been secretly gay.