NUMBER 14, VOLUME 2 JUNE 16 — JUNE 30, 2016
special issue WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM
THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
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meet the author! Kirk Frederick will be interviewed by veteran Hollywood reporter Bill Harris at a free presentation including video clips of Charles in performance, an open discussion about the book, a question-and-answer session, and book signing:
Thursday evening, June 23, 2016, 7:30pm
West Hollywood Public Library Auditorium 625 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood 90069
Books will be on sale at the event. They are also available online at Amazon.com & BarnesandNoble.com, and at fine bookstores everywhere.
“Thoroughly entertaining!
It’s one laugh-out-loud passage after another.”
–John Paul King, The PRIDE, L.A.
Book cover design by Jaime Flores
Legendary “Male Actress” Charles Pierce created raucously uncanny impressions of Bette Davis, Mae West, and Katharine Hepburn, among other movie icons. His 40-year career included hundreds of engagements worldwide. Kirk Frederick worked with Charles for 20 years. He has captured the essence of Pierce’s comic genius by recounting his hilarious material, most of which Charles wrote himself, or improvised. On the occasions when his ad-libs generated exuberant audience response, Charles would call out to Kirk backstage to “write that down.” Kirk did.
Kirk Frederick photo by Ray Garcia
> Supervisor Kuehl,
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NEWS
PUBLISHER & EDITOR TROY MASTERS
troy@smmirror.com CONTRIBUTORS
MATTHEW S. BAJKO, ZACK FORD, CYNTHIA LAIRD, HENRY SCOTT, CHARLES KAISER, LISA KEEN, ALAN MILLER, TIM MILLER, MAER ROSHAN, KIT WINTER, BRAD LAMM, DAVID EHRENSTEIN, STEVEN ERICKSON, LILLIAN FADERMAN, ORIOL GUTTIEREZ, SETH HEMMELGARN, THOMAS LEONARD, IAN MILLHISSER, KAREN OCAMB, STEVE WEINSTEIN, CHRIS AZZOPARD, DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL, ALLEN ROSKOFF, JOHN PAUL KING
PHOTOGRAPHY
LGBT County Leaders Call for End to Bigotry
BOB KRASNER, JON VISCOTT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR (SPECIAL PROJECTS) GARETT YOSHIDA
GRAPHICS
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© 2016 The Pride L.A. All rights reserved.
BY KAREN OCAMB
Sheila Kuehl and LGBT leaders of LA County. Photo courtesy Sheila Kuehl
Out Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl has spent a lifetime fighting bigotry, most prominently perhaps when her Dignity for All Students bill to protect LGBT youth faced a knock-down, drag-out debate in the California Assembly with anti-gay Republicans claiming it was about “special rights,” not civil rights for gays. More recently, Kuehl has advocated for youth in County jails and the foster care system. So it wasn’t surprising that there were moments when Kuehl seemed to choke upTuesday morning talking about the massacre of 49 mostly young gay Latinos and the wounding of 53 more in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida last Sunday. After a moment of silence at the beginning of the Board of Supervisors meeting, Kuehl brought up 10 openly LGBT LA County department leaders and four out LGBT members of her staff to ask that everyone re-dedicate their efforts to end bigotry everywhere. “I have to say, I’m kinda sick of moments of silence. This is in no way to say it was inappropriate. But I’m ready for moments of screaming and moments of rage and moments of weeping,” Kuehl said to much applause. “And moments of decision and moments of commitment. And all of the things that we talk about after each of these tragedies. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done in the County, in the state of California and frankly, in the country, to recognize and try to deal with our inherited hatreds. We breathe them in, as we grow up and we chose to exhale them as we get older. To learn and to grow. As [Supervisor] Hilda [Solis] said, the 50 people who were killed were mostly in their 20s, were almost all Latino or Latina—
they went to dance, they went to have fun. Those 50 people didn’t know it was going to be their last dance. “We hardly ever think about such a thing. If we did, it would keep us from going anywhere. So we go, in a free country. Because we know, as we used to say and wear on our tee shirts in the AIDS and gay movements, Silence Equals Death. So we are not silent,” Kuehl said. The supervisor also acknowledged the openly LGBT leaders standing with her, saying she is “grateful to each of them for being out, for being proud, for saying this is who I am.” She also expressed deep gratitude for straight allies, noting that many allies stood in long lines waiting for hours to donate blood in Orlando. “There will never be enough grief, there will never be enough words, there will never be enough that we can do,” Kuehl said in conclusion. “But I ask you to re-dedicate yourselves to making certain that this kind of prejudice, this kind of hatred, this kind of violence does not happen in our community. You can step in, you can speak up. So many of you have. I am so proud of our County and so proud of the people in County. And I thank you very much.” Joining Kuehl were: Jeff Prang, County Assessor; Joe Kelly, Treasurer and Tax Collector for the County of Los Angeles; Mitchell Katz, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services; Terri McDonald, Assistant Sheriff; Ronene Anda, LA Sheriff’s Department Chief of Transit Policing Division; Skye Patrick, LA County Librarian; John A. Wagner, Senior Executive Vice President, First 5 LA; Steven Golightly, Director, Child Support Services Department; Larry Hafetz, Chief Deputy Director, County Counsel; and Steven Masterson, Classification Director for LA County.
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LA PRIDE 2016 IN PICTURES
Undaunted and joyous PHOTOS BY TROY MASTERS LA Pride almost got called off because of the combination tragedy in Orlando and the arrest in Santa Monica of a many who had a cache of weapons and explosives, but the show went on. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of West Hollywood in a defiant show of LGBTQ Pride, The Parade was part memorial and part celebration with tens of thousands of quickly produced signs shouted love and support for the people of Orlando where 49 people were shot in a possible terror attack at a nightclub called Pulse. Xavier Moreno, 27, of San Jose, Costa R ica, was weeping when he described his feelings about the day. “I am so proud of my latino brothers and sisters in Orlando. We are family and we are a proud people who will not be put down.” Dozens of groups marched. Employee groups from nearly every Hollywood Studio, media, and commerce showed their pride along side non profit groups and mom and pop businesses. Personalities and pets even got involved. It was a very special and unforgettable day. Here are some pictures.
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LA VIGILS
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Los Angeles mourns Orlando TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER IN ORLANDO
Across Los Angeles thousands of people attended vigils in honor of the lives lost in the shooting at the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse. DOZENS GATHER VENICE, PHOTOGATHER GRANT TURCK TENSINOF THOUSANDS IN ORLANDO
HUNDREDS GATHER IN WEHO, PHOTO JON VISCOTT
LAX LIGHTING DISPLAY, BY TAMMY MASTERS
THOUSANDS GATHER AT CITY HALL
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STUDENTS GATHER AT UCLA, PHOTO UCLA
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL IN SOUTH LA
STREET ART EMERGEST IN WEST HOLLYWOOD
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CONGREGATION BETH CHAYIM CHADASHIM
In The Meantime Men’s Group, Inc., LA’s premier Black Gay Men’s Wellness organization, hosted a “We Stand Together” candlelight vigil at the Carl Bean House, (South LA Community Center) on June 14 to honor the victims of the Orlando massacre. “Let this be the moment in our history/herstory that we begin to celebrate our diversity and embrace our common ground,” said Executive Director Jeffrey King. Among the list of notables addressing several hundred diverse people were Rev. Kelvin Sauls of Holman United Methodist Church; Rev. Russell
Thornhill, Unity Fellowship of Christ Church; Michael Weinstein, President AIDS Healthcare Foundation; Rev. Curt Thomas, The Renewed Church of Los Angeles; Jasmyn Cannick, political and community activist; Phill Wilson, The Black AIDS Institute; Vincent Holmes, Better Brothers; Oscar De La O, Executive Director Bienestar; Mother Devine Chanel, House of Chanel; Brenda Gonzalez, Transgender advocate; Gabriel Maldonado, True Evolution. Photo of Oscar de la O via Jasmyn Cannick/Facebook —— Candle via Darnell Anthony/Facebook
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ORLANDO
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very LGBT generation has experienced a signature event that changed the course of their lives and which became a rallying point for their dignity, their fight for their authentic lives, their civil rights and shaped their generation in ways that impacted all generations. Orlando will come to have as much meaning as Stonewall and the AIDS Crisis. Orlando has already changed the course of history. While we pray for and want to help the survivors, including the families of the victims, let us never forget their names or their stories.
JASON JOSAPHAT, 19
CHRISTOPHER LEINONEN, 32
JUAN CHAVEZ MARTINEZ, 25
EDDIE JUSTICE, 30
ALEJANDRO MARTINEZ, 21
BRENDA LEE MARQUEZ MCCOOL, 49
Like many 19-year-olds, Jason Benjamin Josaphat had many interests and was just starting to chart his path in life, according to his family — he was computer savvy, loved to work out and had an interest in photography. “He was very excited about his journey,” said Josaphat’s uncle, Christopher Long. Less than two weeks ago, Josaphat graduated from Southern Technical College’s business office specialist program, according to Martin Levert, the college’s executive director. Levert called Josaphat “an exceptional student.”
The words “Mommy I love you” were the first in a tragic series of texts Eddie Jamoldroy Justice sent to his mother. He woke his mother Mina Justice at 2:06 a.m. with those words, followed by “In club they shooting.” Over the next 45 minutes they exchanged messages. “He’s coming. I’m gonna die,” Eddie wrote to her, Mina Justice said. Eddie Justice told his mother that people in the bathroom were hurt. Eddie Justice told her he was trapped in the bathroom and that there was a shooter. Mina Justice asked if the shooter was in the bathroom with Eddie. Then at 2:50 a.m. another text: “He’s a terror.” And then a finally message “Yes.”
In high school, he started a gay-straight alliance, his mother said, and more recently he won the Anne Frank Humanitarian Award for his work in the gay community. “I’ve been so proud of him for that,” Christine Leinonen said. “Please, let’s all just get along. We’re on this Earth for such a short time. Let’s try to get rid of the hatred and the violence, please.” She said Juan Guerrero, his boyfriend, and her son were sitting next to one another when the shots rang out. The families are planning a joint funeral service for the couple.
Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21, was an outgoing native of Cuba who “always had a smile on his face,” a friend said Tuesday. Sarai Torres said she’d known Martinez since last year. He’d just moved to Florida from Cuba, she said, and was still trying to master English. “Every interaction I had with him was totally positive,” she said.
Martinez, who worked for APDC services for the past seven years and was a supervisor for the past five years, was remembered by his supervisor as an “extremely dedicated, hard worker,” said Alicia Amarro, chief financial officer for APDC, a janitorial service. “He was extremely friendly, very dedicated to his family, to his co-workers. … It is very difficult. Everybody loved him.”
Brenda went dancing with her gay son and one of the last things she did was post a video of her dancing with him. She was a two-time cancer survivor who dealt with the loss of both parents. She’d made a number of moves in her life, bouncing between New Jersey and Florida before ultimately deciding to settle in Orlando. Recently, she’d decided to become a real estate agent and started taking classes. “She was a fighter,” said Noreen Vaquer, who met her as a Brooklyn kindergartener. “She doesn’t take nothing from nobody.” She was Wilson Cruz’s aunt.
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GILBERTO SILVA, 25
KIMBERLY ‘KJ’ MORRIS, 37
AKYRA MURRAY, 18
GERALDO ORTIZ-JIMENEZ, 25
JOEL RAYON PANIAGUA, 31
JEAN CARLOS MENDEZ PEREZ, 35
ENRIQUE RIOS, 25
ERIC IVAN ORTIZ RIVERA, 36
JEAN CARLOS NIEVES RODRIGUEZ, 27
Silva grew up in Manati, Puerto Rico, and moved to Orlando a few years ago, according to Irma Silva-Lauer, another cousin. His Facebook wall says he was studying health care management at the Ana G. Mendez University’s Orlando campus. “He is my older brother’s only child, and he was the light and the life of all the family gatherings. This all feels like a dream, and I’m going to wake up and he will be texting me or calling me to tell me he is ok,” Silva-Lauer wrote in a message to the Orlando Sentinel.
Geraldo Ortiz-Jimenez flew to Orlando from his home in Puerto Rico on Friday to catch a concert in Orlando. Everyone called him Drake. The day he died he snapped photos at Madame Tussauds before he watching Selena Gomez and DNCE perform Friday night, according to posts he made on Facebook and Instagram: “With the love of my life,” Ortiz wrote in Spanish on his Instagram account as he posed for a photo with the wax figure of Selena Gomez. “He was humble, simple and charismatic,” said a friend.
Enrique L. Rios left his home in New York to spend the weekend celebrating a friend’s birthday in Orlando. Gertrude Merced, Rios’ mother, doesn’t remember exactly what her son told her the last time they spoke on Friday, but recalls the upbeat inflection in his voice. “He just sounded so happy,” Merced told the New York Daily News. “Enrique was a wonderful person.”
Kimberly “KJ” Morris moved to Orlando about two months ago. The 37-year-old left Hawaii to help her mother and grandmother, who both live here. She found a home at the Pulse nightclub, where she was a bouncer. “She was so excited. She’d just started working there and told me how she was thrilled to get more involved in the LGBT community there,” said ex-girlfriend Starr Shelton. “I just remember after every single game she would give me a fist bump and tell me ‘Good game,’” said another friend. “It didn’t matter how bad of a game it was, she was always there.”
Joel Rayon Paniagua loved to dance. He went to Pulse nightclub in Orlando in early June and was looking forward to meeting friends there for another night of dancing, said longtime friend Lorena Bar ragan. “He was the best,” said Barragan, who met Rayon Paniagua at church in Winter Garden. “He was loyal. He was always trying to do stuff to make you feel better.”
Eric Ivan Ortiz Rivera, 36, came to Florida from Puerto Rico to work his way up in his career and have a chance at a better life. “Eric was always willing to help everybody. He sacrificed himself a lot for his family,” said his former roommate, Abismel Colon Gomez of Orlando. “He loved his brother, and he was always being generous.” He held a bachelor’s degree in communications from Universidad Central de Bayamon.
Akyra Murray was a top student and standout athlete at her Philadelphia high school, a teenager who impressed those who watched her on the basketball court and those who felt her “warmth and magnetic embrace.” She was celebrating her graduation from West Catholic Preparatory High School with her trip to Orlando, after graduating third in her senior class this spring, leading the girls basketball team in scoring the past two seasons – a 1,000-points in her career — she was signed to play at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania, according to the high school.
Perez moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico when he was in his teen years, said his father, Angel Mendez. Adjusting to a new home was challenging at first, but it wasn’t long before Perez made friends and built a new life for himself. “He was a real dynamic kid,” said Mendez, 58, of Orlando. Agudelo said Perez met his longtime partner thanks to a specific fragrance: Declaration by Cartier. Perez, who lived in Kissimmee, liked going out, and sister-in-law Katia Mendez said she believes Pulse was one of his go-to spots.
Jean Carlos Nieves Rodriguez bought his first house a month and a half ago. He wanted his mom to live someplace nice. “He was just a caring, loving guy — just like a big teddy bear,” said one of his best friends, Ivonne Irizarry. “He wanted to be the best at what he did, and he would work very hard to achieve that,” Irizarry said. “So if he had to put in the long hours to get it right, he’d do it. If he had to stay to work a double [shift], he did it. That’s why whatever job he went to, he became a manager.” REMEMBER 6/11 continued on p. XX
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XAVIER EMMANUEL SERRANO, 35
CHRISTOPHER SANFELIZ, 24
YILMARY RODRIGUEZ SOLIVAN, 24
EDWARD SOTOMAYOR JR.,
SHANE TOMLINSON, 33
MARTIN BENITEZ TORRES, 33
Xavier Emmanuel Serrano enter tained crowds throughout Florida. Serrano was described as a happy, ener getic person who enjoyed salsa dancing and spending time with his 5-year-old son. Serrano had performed at local theme parks, including Walt Disney World, and on the Norwegian Cruise Line. He was a club regular throughout Florida and loved dancing.
Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan was enjoying a night out with her brother-in-law, William Borges, and a friend. They went to Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Only one of them, Borges, survived. Rodriguez Solivan, 24, was married to race-car driver Juan Borges and a mother of two — including a 3-month-old son, Sergio. She worked at a Wendy’s in Puerto Rico before moving to Florida.
Shane Evan Tomlinson sang with his band Frequency Saturday night at Blue Martini nightclub. Tomlinson, 33, was a vibrant and charismatic lead vocalist for the cover band, performing at night clubs and weddings. “I’ve never met anyone like him,” said Carey Sobel, an Orlando resident who hired Tomlinson’s band,
Christopher Sanfeliz, a 24-year-old Tampa bank employee, was remembered by a former classmate as “the most positive guy I’ve ever known.” “He [was] a wonderful person and this is such a tragedy,” said Mike Wallace, a close family friend. “He was cut down in his prime.” Carlos Sanfeliz, traveled to Orlando, Wallace said. Christopher had told family members he and a group of friends planned to go to Pulse.
Edward Sotomayor Jr. was enjoying Latin Night at Pulse nightclub in Orlando early Sunday, when he invited his boss, Al Ferguson, who owns the travel company where Sotomayor was national brand manager, to join the fun. Sotomayor had recently returned from Cuba, after coordinating the first-ever gay cruise to the island nation in April, said Ferguson, owner of AL and CHUCK.travel, an LGBT travel agency.
Martin Benitez Torres, 33, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, arrived in Orlando to visit family a few days before the shooting. He was a pharmacy student studying in Tampa at Sistema Universitario Ana G. Méndez, and was supposed to graduate this week.
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761 SWARTHMORE AVENUE | PACIFIC PALISADES
JUAN RIVERA VELAZQUEZ, 37
Graceful and elegant Cape Cod home with finished basement. Custom built in 2009 and located in the Via Bluffs, this richly appointed home with 6 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths, family room, paneled library/den and a finished basement with 2 bedrooms, media room, full bath and an elevator. The kitchen is truly gourmet and features Viking appliances, granite counters, a center island, breakfast nook and walk-in butler’s pantry. The family room with fireplace is spacious and opens to a grassy backyard with barbecue and sports court. A superb master suite has cathedral ceilings, a fireplace, large walk-in closet and outdoor balcony. Enjoy the glorious sunsets and views from the must-see rooftop deck. Ideally located close to the many shops and restaurants of the Palisades Village, this home offers the finest in casual, yet luxurious living for which the Pacific Palisades is famous. Offered at $4,995,000.
Juan Pablo Rivera Velazquez, 37, worked at Alta Peluqueria D’Magazine salon in Kissimmee with Luis Daniel Conde. Client Alexandra Ale said the salon would often provide free services to women who had been victims of domestic abuse. “We will always thank you for making us feel beautiful,” one message read. Friends say the couple had been together 16 years and owned the salon for about seven.
LUIS VIELMA, 22
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, posted a message on Twitter about Vielma’s death early Monday. “Luis Vielma worked on the Harry Potter ride at Universal,” Rowling wrote. “He was 22 years old. I can’t stop crying. #Orlando” Olga Glomba, who also said she worked with Vielma at Universal, wrote in an email that he was “always there, without fail.” “He was a true friend,” Glomba wrote.
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LUIS DANIEL WILSON-LEON, 37
JERALD ARTHUR WRIGHT, 31
STANLEY ALMODOVAR III, 23
AMANDA ALVEAR, 25
Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37, who grew up in Puerto Rico, was a protector, confidant and hero, according to Daniel Gmys-Casiano, a friend for almost 20 years. “We grew up in a really small town in Puerto Rico … and he was going to the same church that I was, and he was always the odd man out. He was bullied constantly. He was different. He would dress in black, wear long sideburns,’’ Gmys-Casiano said.
Stanley’s mother, Rosalie Ramos, 51, described him as a happy man with a big heart. He often fussed with his hair, changing the style. It was dyed Saturday night. His aunt Yoly described him as “an amazing person with a good soul.” She said he had a promising future. Stanley is credited with pushing people out of harms way when bullets were flying at Pulse, but he was shot three times and died on the scene.
Jerald Arthur Wright, 31, was part of at least two families — his biological one and tight-knit group of friends he worked with at Walt Disney World. “Jerry was a great guy to work with. He was quiet but really wonderful with all the guests. He always had a smile on his face.” Wright apparently went to the club to help a friend, Cory James Connell, celebrate his 21st birthday. Connell was also killed in the shootings.
Amanda was a fashionista who loved to look her best. She frequented gay and lesbian clubs because they were fun places, and she felt safe to be herself. “She wouldn’t want anyone to spread hate for her,” her brother said. “She’d rather they spread more love, keep friends and family close and have a good time doing it.”
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> Orlando Massacre Creates 14
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ANALYSIS
a New Question About Gay Identity BY KAREN OCAMB
From New York City’s histor ic Stonewall Inn to Harvey Milk Park in Long Beach, small groups of LGBT mourners sang the old civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” at rallies Sunday night, June 12, honoring the victims of the worst massacre in U.S. history. The atrocity occurred earlier that morning at Pulse in Orlando, Florida, a popular gay bar whose “Latin night” was fatally interrupted by rapid gunfire from an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle. The 49 dead were mostly gay men in their 20s and 30s; the full list of names of the 53 wounded have not yet been released. “This is an especially heartbreaking day for all our friends -- our fellow Americans -- who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The shooter targeted a nightclub where people came together to be with friends, to dance and to sing, and to live. The place where they were attacked is more than a nightclub -- it is a place of solidarity and empowerment where people have come together to raise awareness, to speak their minds, and to advocate for their civil rights,” said President Obama in a brief statement from the White House. The FBI said the shooter, Omar Mateen, killed in a gunfight with police, was a “self-radicalized” American-born Muslim terrorist who had called 911 from inside the club to pledge allegiance to ISIS, the brutal anti-gay organization trying to establish an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. But FBI Director James Comey also told reporters that Mateen said he supported the Boston marathon bombers and an American suicide bomber linked to the al Qaeda- associated Nusra Front. In fact, Mateen’s confused support for terrorist groups that are fighting each other—called “jihad-shopping” by terrorism experts—led the FBI to halt an investigation of him in 2013, deeming him not to be a threat. Nonetheless, by Monday night presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had very different reactions to the massacre, while much of the rest of the world was in mourning. The Eiffel Tower in Paris lit up in rainbow colors and thousands held rallies and candlelight vigils across America — from the New York’s landmark Stonewall Inn to Orlando City
Hall. In Southern California, rallies ranged from an event at a rainbow-hued Los Angeles City Hall featuring Lady Gaga, to Micky’s nightclub in West Hollywood to a “We Stand Together” diverse vigil in South LA to an interfaith vigil in Koreatown hosted by the Islamic Center of Southern California and Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace and another event in San Bernardino, site of another terrorist shooting last year. “This is an attack on humanity itself,” Gaga told a crowd of about 3,000 in downtown Los Angeles. “We must express our grief and anger,” said Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Lorri Jean, who organized the City Hall rally. “But we must also make it clear that we will not be deterred by hate and violence, and that we celebrate in defiance of bigotry and fear.” America got a glimpse of that loving bravery as gay men and first responders rushed to help the victims of the mass shooting, followed by Orlando’s Muslim leaders calling for their followers to donate blood. But that celebration “in defiance of bigotry and fear” was also felt in West Hollywood that terrible Sunday, too, as authorities and organizers of LA Pride briefly considered canceling the Pride parade but decided to go on—even after a young Indiana man was arrested in Santa Monica with three assault rifles, high capacity magazines, ammunition and a five-gallon bucket “with chemicals capable of forming an improvised explosive device” found in his car. James Wesley Howell, 20, told police he was on his way to the LA Pride parade.
It turns out Howell might be gay, though unusually, apparently also violent. According to WXIN-FOX59 in Indianapolis, Howell has a criminal history that includes threatening to shoot people. He also had violent domestic disputes with his 17-year old ex-boyfriend last October. “He had called up there to my job and said that he would come up there and shoot everybody there, kill everybody,” the ex-boyfriend told WXIN. “He would explode violently like that and do things with his guns, so it didn’t really surprise me,” about Howell’s arrest in Santa Monica. “He’s out there with explosives and all these guns, but who carries all these guns in a car and goes to a gay pride event?” Howell, who has not yet divulged his intentions, was charged Tuesday, June 14, with three weapons-related felonies and a misdemeanor; he’s being held on $2-million bail. Meanwhile, news reports from Orlando quote gay men as having spotted Mateen in Pulse several times over three years, usually drinking alone, talking about his father, his religion, his wife and son – and threatening with a knife those who commented negatively. “Sometimes he would go over in the corner and sit and drink by himself, and other times he would get so drunk he was loud and belligerent,” Ty Smith told the Orlando Sentinel. Mateen’s ex-wife said he was physically abusive but didn’t know if he was gay. His current wife, Noor Salman, apparently drove him to Pulse on a prior occasion and tried to talk him out of conducting an attack but never alerted authorities. Was Mateen gay, was he a self-hating gay or was he cruising for gay victims? One of Mateen’s co-workers, a former Fort Pierce police officer, described the 29-year old armed security guard as mentally “unhinged,” often making racist and homophobic comments during his shifts. M a t e e n ’ s f a t h e r, S e d d i q u e M a t e e n — w h o IDENTITY continued on p. 21
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Remember
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NEVER FORGET THEIR NAMES
OSCAR ARACENA, 26
RODOLFO AYALA-AYALA, 33
ANTONIO DAVON BROWN, 29
DARRYL ROMAN BURT II, 29
JONATHAN CAMUY, 24
ANGEL LUIS CANDELARIO-PADRO, 28
OMAR CAPO, 20
SIMON CARRILLO, 31
LUIS DANIEL CONDE, 39
CORY JAMES CONNELL, 21
TEVIN EUGENE CROSBY, 25
Darryl skipped a trip to New Orleans with his best friend last weekend to go dancing in Orlando. The 29-year-old Jacksonville resident had just earned his degree in Human Resources Management, and he wanted to celebrate. “He loved to dance. He loved to have fun,” Mahogany Avent said. “He was my best
Carrillo, of Kissimmee, was 31. Carrillo and his partner, Oscar Aracena, had just returned home from Niagara Falls. He was good with money, a friend said, always saving so he could travel. Carrillo had been to the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, to Mexico and on cruises, to Anna Marie Island and Clearwater and Playalinda Beach, Florida.
Oscar lived with another victim of the attack, Simon A. Carrillo. They had with three Chihuahuas. They had just returned home from New York City and Canada days before the shooting. Oscar moved from the Dominican Republic to Central Florida and is described as “a very sweet guy.”
Jonathan Camuy moved to Florida to work for a Spanish TV network, where he was a producer for a popular children’s talent competition. Camuy worked for La Voz Kids, similar to the NBC show “The Voice.” The show is produced in Orlando and airs on Telemundo. “The [National Association of Hispanic Jour-
Luis Daniel Conde, 39, went to the same high school in Puerto Rico as Juan Pablo Rivera Velasquez, ran a beauty salon in Kissimmee with him, and on Sunday, they died together in the Pulse nighclub massacre. Tania Mercador of Orlando said, “I used GPS and got lost,” Mercador said. “It kept sending me to the wrong address. They sent messages, ‘Are you coming, are you coming?’ but I never got there.”
Ayala was a Puerto Rican native who loved his work at the blood donation center was known for his compassion, said Johnny Rivera Muñiz. He was all about “doing things the right way,” he said. “He loved to dance salsa and all kinds of Latin dancing. He was always funny, always smiling.
On his Facebook page’s about section, Candelario-Padro says of himself: “I’m an adventurous, easy going but responsible man that would like to live the life completely.” He was from Guánica, Puerto Rico, and recently moved to Orlando from Chicago to start a new life. He was set to start his new job at the Flor-
Cory James Connell is described as the “sweetest kid ever” and “their alltime favorite.” His brother said he was the “superhero” of their family. Connell’s brother Ryan wrote on Facebook that his grieving family lost their “superhero” and a “family man through and through” when his brother died. “The world lost an amazing soul, today,” Ryan Connell wrote Monday. “God just got the best of angels.”
“He was the most incredible friend,” said a friend. The Army Times on Facebook expressed sadness and anger that Brown lost his life as he did. “Thank you for serving our nation, CPT. My deepest condolences to your loved ones,” read one. “R.I.P. Captain Antonio Brown, sir! It was a senseless hateful act.”
Capo grew up in Nashville, Tenn., and graduated from La Vergne High School. While pursuing his dream of becoming a performer. “He was always just loving and kind,” said friend Daniel Suarez-Ortiz. He took a screenshot of Capo’s last Shapchat before it disappeared to remember his friend.
Tevin’s brother Chavis Crosby said, “He was very ambitious,” Chavis said. “Whatever goal he had in mind, he worked hard. Whether alone or on a team, he worked on that goal.” He owned a marketing firm, Total Entrepreneurs Concepts, loved to travel for work and fun. Tevin flew to Orlando after a visit with family. He watched several nieces and nephews graduate before heading to his hometown of Statesville, N.C. REMEMBER 6/11 continued on p. XX
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Remember
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NEVER FORGET THEIR NAMES
ANTHONY LUIS LAUREANO, 25
DEONKA DEIDRA DRAYTON, 32
LEROY VALENTIN FERNANDEZ, 25
MERCEDEZ MARISOL FLORES, 26
PETER O. GONZALEZ-CRUZ, 22
JUAN RAMON GUERRERO, 22
PAUL TERRELL HENRY, 41,
FRANKIE HERNANDEZ, 27
MIGUEL ANGEL HONORATO, 30
JIMMY DE JESÚS, 50
JAVIER JORGE-REYES, 40
Marisol was also an avid music fan, according to her niece, Jennifer Flores. “Whenever I was in the car with her, she always had the music blasting, and I guess she got the love of music from my father and uncle who are DJs,” Flores said in an email. “She was just a really fun nice person and
Frankie Hernandez taught his kid sister how to walk in heels. With brutal honesty, he also shared his cutting opinion whenever he thought she needed to touch up her hair or fix her make-up. “I miss him so much already,” she said. Hernandez’s life philosophy “love has no gender” was tattooed in script on his upper right arm, moved to Orlando from Louisiana to Orlando, where he felt more accepted.
Since he was a boy, Anthony Luis Laureano Disla loved to dance. It didn’t matter the style — salsa, mambo, tango, or ballroom dancing — Laureano Disla happiest on a dance floor, family members said. “He was very talented,” cousin Ana Figueroa of Orlando said. “It was his passion.”
Peter’s Facebook page — changed Sunday to read “Remembering Peter Ommy” — and is full of snapshots, interspersed with nature photos of clouds, flowers and jellyfish. His profile photo from June, 2015 was his face with the gay pride flag superimposed over it, a Facebook option many chose to celebrate
Messages of condolences and support began flooding Jose Honorato’s Facebook page Monday morning after the news that his brother, Miguel Angel Honorato, was one of the 49 victims of Sunday’s mass shooting.”I am so sorry for your loss he was an amazing loving caring person and will always be missed! May God bless you and your family,” one wrote. His profile states he worked at FajitaMex Mexican Catering in Orlando.
Life had hardened Deonka Deidra Drayton. She was loving, but had “an attitude” and was quick to tell someone off if she thought they were in the wrong. That was her way of showing she cared. Drayton, 32, had her demons, but she was in the midst of a renaissance when she was killed in the shooting.
Juan went to the club with his boyfriend, Christopher Leinonen, who also was killed. Juan and his boyfriend attended gay pride events all over the country. Friends and supporters who knew them as advocates for the community flew into Orlando and called from around the world to grieve. Guerrero was a
Jimmy De Jesús was a kind and generous with his time, always helping friends and family members. De Jesús, a 50-yearold Orlando resident originally from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, was among the victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando early Sunday.”All he did was work, help people. His family loved him,” a friend said. “Wherever Jimmy would go, Jimmy had people loving him.’’
Leroy Valentin Fernandez was a natural performer. He loved dressing up and dancing to moves he choreographed in front of crowds while belting out renditions of Beyoncé or Jennifer Lopez.”He filled our office with music,” said Yolanda Quinones-Perez, Fernandez’s friend and manager at Auvers Village.
A Chicago native, loved to dance and have fun, according to Francisco Hernandez. He also loved his family, and two children including daughter Alexia, who recently graduated from high school. “He knew I had the potential for greater things,’’ said his heartbroken boyfriend Francisco Hernandez said. “I had
Style-conscious and customer-oriented, Jorge-Reyes was a natural in sales at Gucci at the Mall at Millenia and had a flair about him. He went by the name Harvey George Kings on Facebook, an English translation of his Spanish name. “He liked to go out,” said friend Jose Diaz of Tampa. “He was proud to be Latino, super proud.” Friends knew him as “Javi” and on Facebook recalled his smile, sass and energy.
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Will the LGBT community face off against the NRA? BY KAREN OCAMB There was a flurry of excitement in Democratic circles Thursday, June 16, after Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to bend in the GOP’s rigid fealty to the National Rifle Association, the nation’s most powerful lobbying group. Republican senators would be open to legislation banning the sale of guns to suspected terrorists, as long as due process protections for individuals on the federal government’s terrorist no-fly list were included. The NRA opposes any ban on the right to buy arms, including AR 15-style assault rifles like the one used by terrorist Omar Mateen, who wantonly slaughtered 49 innocent, mostly young Latino gay club goers in Orlando, Florida, injuring 53 others. Mateen had briefly been on the no-fly list until an FBI investigation concluded he was not a threat. McConnell’s nod came after Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy led a nearly 15-hour filibuster on the Senate floor pushing for gun control legislation. Murphy represents Newton, Connecticut, the site of the 2012 massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Many of the grieving parents were in the gallery when the Senate failed to pass legislation calling for expanded background checks. Last December, after the terrorist mass shooting in San Bernardino, the Senate voted down legislation introduced by California Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Her proposal closes the “terrorism gap” which would prevent someone deemed too dangerous to buy a plane ticket from legally purchasing a firearm. A Government Accountability Office report found that suspected terrorists bought firearms and explosives from licensed dealers 1,300 times between 2004 and 2014. Additionally, radical Islamic terror leaders, ThinkProgress reported last year, “have urged American sympathizers to exploit the
OUT LESBIAN SENATOR TAMMY BALDWIN FILIBUSTERS ON GUN CONTROL
nation’s lax gun laws in order to perpetrate domestic terror.” “America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?” said American-born al-Qaeda spokesmen Adam Yahiye Gadahn in 2011. #Enough, Murphy and others, including out Sen. Tammy Baldwin said after the Orlando shooting. “I can’t tell you how hard it is to look into the eyes of the families of those little boys and girls who were killed in Sandy Hook and tell them that almost four years later, we’ve done nothing, nothing at all to reduce the likelihood that that will happen again to another family,” Murphy said. Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump said he would meet with the NRA “about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.” An NRA spokesperson said they would be “happy” to meet with Trump, but it is unlikely the self-proclaimed huge
deal-maker can get the NRA to budge. Nor is passage of even modest gun control legislation calling for closing the #NoFlyNoBuy terrorism gap and mandating universal background checks likely to pass either chamber of Congress as the NRA doles out contributions to GOP candidates during an election year. But with 57% of American supporting commonsense gun control, Orlando may prove to be a water shed moment. And out actor/activist George Takei thinks that, given the LGBT community’s history of being targeted for hate crimes but organiz-
ing against the odds to win equality, it’s imperative that the community organize against the NRA. “Like it or not, this history and this obligation have been thrust upon us, and we must now rise to its challenge,” Takei wrote in the Daily Beast. “For if there is one group in this country with more will, more experience, and more tenacity than the NRA, it is the LGBT community. You don’t want to mess with us.” Shannon Watts, mother of a gay teen and founder of Moms Demand Action, says: “I am outraged that, despite 150 mass shootings since 2009, our federal lawmakers have done exactly nothing in response. If you too are outraged, join the movement to end gun violence: text ORLANDO to 64433.”
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WORLD
SPECIAL ISSUE | 06.17 — 06.30.2016
Orlando shooting: world pays tribute to victims with vigils and rainbow flags BY BLAKE LYNCH
RISKING THEIR LIVES IN MOSCOW TO STAND WITH LGBT ORLANDO
Vigils have been held around the world in solidarity with the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. In London, venues along Old Compton Street, the heart of the capital’s gay community, stopped serving at 7pm on Monday and people were invited into the street. Heads were bowed for a minute before defiant cheers and applause greeted the release of dozens of balloons, one for each person killed in Orlando, into the skies above Soho. For many, the impact of the massacre in Florida was all the more poignant in an area that was the scene 17 years ago of the worst homophobic attack in British history, when a nail bomb blast at the Admiral Duncan pub killed three people and wounded 70. “What happened in Florida does bring back the memories,” said Ian Davis under the rainbow flags flying above the crowds. Did the community in Soho feel safe these days? “I think there is a lot of hatred, but there is also a lot more acceptance than there was,” he replied. “On the opposite side there are obviously a few people who are full of a lot of hatred.” Jake Johnstone, who was was wearing the pink triangle of the 1980s Act Up movement, said: “Obviously we had the Paris attacks and everyone was shocked by it, but because Orlando was an attack on the LGBT community it feels very personal and a lot of people feel deeply affected by it. “The reason we’re here is to show solidarity with people in Florida. We’re also aware that there are
people out there who have been engaging in Islamophobia. A lot of comments have been made that the blame for this is with a religion rather than homophobia and hatred.” The author JK Rowling was among those who paid tribute following the attack in Orlando, after it emerged that one of the victims worked on the Harry Potter ride at Universal Studios. “I can’t stop crying,” Rowling wrote. David Cameron sent a message of condolence, and Buckingham Palace said the Queen had sent a message to Barack Obama. In France, the Eiffel Tower was to be lit up in the rainbow colours of the LGBT community. The Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, expressed her “compassion, solidarity and affection” for the American people after the attack and said city hall would raise the rainbow flag and the stars and stripes. Paris councillors observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the attack, in which 49 people were killed and 53 injured. In November last year, cities across the world held vigils for the 130 people who died in attacks in the French capital, often illuminating buildings in the colours of the French national flag. The French football team, who are among the 24 competing at Euro 2016 in France, tweeted a message of support along with a picture of a ribbon combining “Sometimes football counts for little. Thoughts for Orlando,” the message said in French, adding in English, “Together we stand.” As vigils for the victims were held around the world, social media users rallied online with the hashtag #GaysBreaktheInternet, which began trending worldwide on Twitter along with #PrayforOrlando. Vigils were held in many US states on Sunday night, including California, Illinois and Texas. In New York, the lights of the Empire State Building were turned off in sympathy. “We will remain dark tonight,” read a tweet from the landmark’s account.
A vigil was held outside the city’s Stonewall Inn, the historic gay bar that has been at the centre of the fight for LGBT rights. The comedian James Corden opened the 2016 Tony awards in New York on Sunday night with a tribute to the victims. “All around the world people are trying to come to terms with the horrific events that took place in Orlando this morning,” he said. “On behalf of the whole theatre community and every person in this room, our hearts go out to all of those affected by this atrocity. All we can say is you are not on your own right now. Your tragedy is our tragedy. “Theatre is a place where every race, creed, sexTENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER IN PARIS PHOTO GERARD KOSKOVICH
uality and gender is equal, is embraced and is loved. Hate will never win. Together we have to make sure of that.” In Canada, vigils were held in Ottawa and Vancouver, and in Toronto up to 5,000 people including the mayor, John Tory, attended a gathering. Teachers in Ontario were encouraged to discuss the incident in classrooms on Monday. Pride Toronto described the shooting as hor rific. “This tragedy is a painful reminder that our community still faces hate and discrimination,” it said. “Together we mourn the loss of life, and our hearts and thoughts go to the friends and families of those involved. As a community, we will together stand united during this painful and difficult time.” Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, said it was AROUND THE WORLD ORLANDO continued on p. 19
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TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER IN LONDON
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ebrate, to share time with friends”. He said he had spoken to the US ambassador to Australia, John Berry, “and formally conveyed to him Australians’ sympathy, condolences and resolute solidarity in the face of this shocking act of hate and terror”. The South Australia premier, Jay Weatherill, said the Adelaide Oval cricket ground would be illuminated in rainbow colours, tweeting “love wins”. Other landmarks in Australia to be lit up in the rainbow flag include the Melbourne Arts Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Brisbane Story Bridge. A rainbow flag flew at half-mast above Sydney town hall, which was lit up in pink. In Kuwait, where 27 people were killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber last year, the foreign ministry said the government strongly condemned the “terrorist attack” in Orlando, adding that the escalation of such assaults required a doubling down of efforts on the part of the international community to eliminate “this disgusting phenomenon”. Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned the Orlan-
AROUND THE WORLD VIGILS continued from p. 18
important to continue with “our open, tolerant life” following the attacks. Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, said in a letter to Obama that the country stood “shoulder to shoulder with our American brothers and sisters”. Tel Aviv’s city hall was lit up with the US flag and the rainbow flag, the city’s mayor tweeted. The Palestinian prime minister, Rami Hamdallah, said the shooting was a “senseless act of terror and hate” and that “Palestinians stand with the American people in this difficult time”. The statement made no direct reference to the LGBT community. Afghanistan’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, said to the cabinet as he opened the weekly meeting live on television on Monday morning that the Orlando attack “tells us that terrorism knows no religion, boundary and geography. Terrorism must be eliminated.” He offered his condolences to the people and government of the
SYDNEY , AUSTRALIA’S TRIBUTE IN LIGHTS
THOUSANDS GATHER IS SAN MARCO SQUARE, VENICE, ITALY
Australia’s prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the shooting was “an attack on all of us on all our freedoms, the freedom to gather together, to cel-
do attack “in the strongest possible terms”, and offered condolences to the US government and people. “Egypt stands next to the American people in these difficult times, offering sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wishing the injured a speedy recovery,” it said. Qatar’s foreign ministry strongly condemned the shooting and called for concerted international efforts to “face criminal acts that target civilians”. China’s official Xinhua news agency issued a statement saying President Xi Jinping had called Obama to express his condolences. Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, told reporters in Oita on Monday that “Japan stands together with the people of the United States” and that “this despicable act of terror cannot be tolerated”. In Singapore, where a same-sex kiss was recently removed from a production of the musical Les Misérables, the law minister, K Shanmugam, said on Facebook: “Another senseless shooting … It just goes on and on. The madness is not going to stop.” The prime minister of Malaysia, Najib Razak, said he was horrified and added that “Islam abhors killing of innocent people”.
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used to fly to Los Angeles to tape a political show about Afghan and Pakistani issues — did not believe that his son’s pledge of support to the ISIS was real. “No radicalism, no. He doesn’t have a beard even,” Seddique Mateen told the Washington Post from his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Sunday night. “I don’t think religion or Islam had anything to do with this.” The father also told NBC that a few months ago his son was upset seeing two men kissingin front of his wife and young
son in Miami. Seddique Mateen added, “And then we were in the men’s bathroom, and men were kissing each other.” However, the father said he didn’t think that prompted his son to become a mass murderer. “God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality,” he said. “This is not for the servants” of God to do. But then word started seeping out that Mateen had also been on gay hookup apps Grindr, Adam4Adam, Jack’d. It is unclear whether this was because he was seeking out partners or stalking potential victims–but either way, he
LOS ANGELES would presumably be somewhat familiar with the sight of two men kissing. The FBI is looking into this new information but has not yet offered an interpretation of the accounts. Since the LGBT community often identifies as a “gentle, loving people,” as singer Holly Near once wrote, it is difficult to consider that this horrendous act of violence could be an act of intense internalized homophobia. But LGBT people are only human—something the world started to acknowledge when everyone thought the Pulse was the latest target of terrorism.
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What if, coincidentally on both coasts almost simultaneously during this Gay Pride month, two self-hating gay men took their internalized homophobic rage out on the objects of their obsession—the gay men they did not want to be identified with, or conversely, wanted to be with but couldn’t by din of their socialized upbringing? As many LGBT people know, the rooms of 12 Step programs around the country are filled with apologetic former gay bashers who confessed to being the worst of their fraternal gang to prove their heterosexual masculinity. Could Mateen have snapped at the prospect of being a gay Muslim? Could Howell be reacting to the anti-gay hatred expressed in his home state of Indiana last year after Gov. Mike Pence signed a so-called “Religious Freedom” bill? It is not unthinkable that for some deranged, self-absorbed gays, homicide is preferable to suicide to stop the pain of self-loathing. And while the community shuns purposeless violence against another, in some far reaches of the collected LGBT unconsciousness, some wonder why gays have not “bashed-back” before. After all, how many decades can LGBT people endure the seemingly never-ending vile hatred spewed at them as if they are inhuman degenerates— such as the attack leveled by Pastor Roger Jimenez from his Sacramento pulpit after the massacre of innocents in Orlando “Hey, are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?” he asked his congregation,according to KTXL. “No. I think that’s great. I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida’s a little safer tonight…..The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die.” Asked on June 14 about the backlash against his remarks, Jimenez told Tribune Mediahttp://ktla. com/2016/06/15/pastor-defends-hatefilled-sermon-on-orlando-shootings/ that he didn’t tell his congregation to kill gays—that’s the government’s job. “The bible teaches that this is the government’s role. If we lived in a society that followed biblical principles, the government should be doing these things,” Jimenez said. “I know there are people who agree with what I’m saying -- normal people who think it’s disgusting.” No matter what the final outcome—whether Mateen’s internalized homophobia turns out or not to be the source of his infatuation with one of the world’s worst gay-bashers, ISIS terrorists—America has soberly discovered that homophobia and transphobia hurt everyone, regardless of their family, upbringing or identity.
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> The Other Group Mourning
OPINION
The Orlando Massacre: LGBT Muslims BY JACK JENKINS
CALEB MCGREW, RIGHT, WIPES TEARS AS HE STANDS WITH HIS PARTNER YOSNIEL DELGADO GINIEBRA, CENTER, DURING A VIGIL IN MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE ORLANDO MASS SHOOTING. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/LYNNE SLADKY
America is struggling to come to terms with a national tragedy this week after an ISIS-affiliated gunman barged into a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida early Sunday morning and shot dead 49 people — a horrific event that amounts to the bloodiest mass shooting in American history. LGBT and Muslim groups are both working quickly to respond to the massacre, with Pride Parade participants marching on to honor the fallen and Muslim groups donating thousands of dollars to aid the surviving victims. But as millions of Americans search for ways to make sense of it all, members of another often forgotten community are finding themselves wrestling with how to react: Muslims who identify as bisexual, transgender, lesbian, and gay. This dual-identity subgroup, which one self-identified queer Muslim told ThinkProgress numbers “in the millions worldwide,” was suddenly thrust into the spotlight after officials announced the Orlando shooter had pledged allegiance to the militant group ISIS, ostensibly justifying his
record-setting rampage with warped Islamic theology. Politicians such as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump were quick to point to the shooter’s religion as justification for anti-Muslim policies such as banning Muslim immigration, implying the gunman’s virulent homophobia was a direct product of his faith. But within hours of the shooting, the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) released a statement refuting attempts to use the situation to pit Muslims and LGBT people against one another — and rejecting that the two communities can ever be divorced in the first place. There was this kind of triple horror for me when I heard. “This tragedy cannot be neatly categorized as a fight between the LGBTQ community and the Muslim community,” the statement read in part. “At moments like this, we are doubly affected. We reject attempts to perpetuate hatred against our LGBTQ communities as well as our Muslim communities. We ask all Americans to resist the forces of division
and hatred, and to stand against homophobia as well as against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry. Let us remember that the actions of a single individual cannot speak for all Muslims.” This complex, multi-layered form of shock was echoed to ThinkProgress by a number of queer Muslims over the course of several interviews. Eman Abdelhadi, an LGBT rights activist in New York City, said she was terrified both by the shooting and the potential Islamophobic backlash it could trigger. “There was this kind of triple horror for me when I heard,” said Abdelhadi, who is also a PhD student at New York University studying gender in American Muslim communities. “Initially there is the horror that human lives were taken, and then the horror that queer lives were so dispensable, and then the horror that one of my identities [Islam] might get attacked as a result.” For Sahar Shafqat, a political science professor and founding member of MASGD, news of the LGBT MUSLIMS continued on p. 23
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tragedy was coupled with preparations for an iftar, a traditional Muslim service held during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan to celebrate the end of the daily fast. Her friends asked if she planned to cancel the event in light of the attacks, but Shafqat and her partner decided to hold it anyway, wishing to mourn the tragedy in a sacred space. “We went ahead because if there was any moment we need each other, it is today — we need to grieve together and grieve in a space where we can be our full selves,” she said. Another group of LGBT Muslims in New York City also gathered for their regular iftar — where they do not divide prayers by gender as many Islamic communities do — on Sunday. As the group circled up for an hour-long Quran study session, the atmosphere was thick with grief. “We were upset — two members were very upset,” Farhat, one of the participants in the iftar who identifies as a gender queer Muslim, told ThinkProgress. “There were some tears shed. [This attack] involved the intersections of so many things … We discussed what can we do with self care tactics to cope.” Indeed, the tragedy was uniquely vexing for members of the Muslim LGBT community, a small but increasingly vocal group in the United States that faces discrimination both for their faith and their sexual identity. Abdelhadi and others, for example, insisted the shooter did not represent Islam in any way — “He wasn’t even a practicing Muslim,” she said — but noted that the Muslim community does wrestle with internal homophobia. She said queer Muslims are in a unique position to help their religious communities confront antiLGBT bigotry — just as several other American faith
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groups work to do the same. “Within our [Muslim] community we need to address that there is homophobia — without pretending that Islam is inherently homophobic, or that homophobia is unique to our community,” she said. N. Ahmad, cofounder of Queer Muslims of Boston, agreed that the Islamic community should tackle homophobia head-on, and added that many American Muslims are already primed to embrace LGBT people. U.S. Muslims are actually more supportive of same-sex marriage than other religious groups such as white evangelical protestants: An April 2015 poll from PRRI found that 42 percent of American Muslims support marriage equality, compared to 28 percent of white evangelicals. “I think there are a lot Muslims who are allies or would be allies, but who just haven’t felt comfortable bringing up this topic,” said Ahmad, who graduated from Harvard Divinity School and lives in the Boston area with his partner. “I think there are a lot of silent supporters, so they may also feel empowered [by the response to the tragedy] to speak up against homophobia.” Several LGBT Muslims recounted to ThinkProgress stories that showcased how the two communities can draw strength from the shared experience of discrimination in the United States. Salem Almaani, an LGBT advocate who was participating in an AIDS prevention bike ride in California when the shooting occurred, said he awoke in Los Angeles Sunday morning to text messages from LGBT friends asking if he was okay and insisting they did not view the actions of the shooter as representative of Islam. For Almaani, the moment was a moving reminder of how much the two groups have in common — and why he is able to claim both identities at once. “Islam teaches compassion and loving one
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another, and if you look at the LGBT community we all look out for another,” he said. “There is a higher level of understanding and forgiveness, in terms of Islamophobia, from the LGBT community. I mean, this is a community that has endured so much discrimination, so they have compassion for people in the same situation.” Although the LGBT Muslims ThinkProgress spoke with represented a spectrum of sexual identities and relationships with Islam, almost all expressed frustration with one particular part of the national response to the tragedy: historically antiLGBT and anti-Muslim politicians who they say are using the shooting to implicitly demonize Islam. “I think American society has tendency to try to escape the things it creates,” Abdelhadi said. “When people who oppose having bathrooms be accessible to transgender folks, when people who oppose even the simple effort of marriage equality … are suddenly standing up saying ‘We won’t tolerate this violence’ to make a point about Islam … they’re already trying to use this event to avoid complicity.” For Shafqat and queer Muslims, such tidy distinctions ring hollow. For them, there is no firm distinction between their LGBT and Muslim identities, and they mourn for both groups during the shooting and its aftermath. “On of the biggest issues [in the response to the tragedy] is the complete division of LGBTQ on one hand and Muslim on the other — speaking as if these are two distinct and separate communities” Shafqat said. “That has never been true, and is absolutely not true now.” “If people realize that that this is completely false … I think it will cause folks to fundamentally rethink how they view this tragedy,” she said. -- Courtesy Think Progress
‘Jewel’s Catch One’ Premiers at Outfest July 10 The Los Angeles Conservancy called Jewel’s Catch One “a significant cultural anchor within Los Angeles’ black LGBTQ community.” LGBT pioneering owner Jewel Thais Williams sold the Catch last November after 42 years of dance history. But thankfully, director C.Fitz has captured the culture and the significance of the world-renowned disco in her documentary “Jewel’s Catch One,” which will have its West Coast premier on Sunday, July 10 at 5:00pm at the Harmony Gold Theatre as part of the Outfest Film Festival. For tickets, go to www.outfest. org. - KO Photo: C. Fitz and Jewel Thais Williams at LA Pride. (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
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