From Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer:
In the years since the tragedy, we have worked to increase the visibility of Orlando’s LGBTQ+ community and celebrate our city’s diversity during annual events like Come Out With Pride and on murals throughout the city. We proudly fly the Pride flag at City Hall and at soccer games. Businesses now display stickers provided by the Orlando Police Department to show that they’re safe places for all residents.
“Orlando United” was our call to action five years ago, but it is up to us all to ensure that this isn’t simply a slogan that we bring out annually as we mark the time that’s passed since the tragedy. Instead, it must be part of our core commitment to real change.
Orlando was called to action on June 12, 2016. Our city was asked to find in ourselves the strength to respond with empathy when faced with an unthinkable act of violence. We are still working every day to honor the 49 angels and every person impacted by the Pulse tragedy with action. Together, we continue to make Orlando a more inclusive, welcoming and equitable community for all.
The Orlando Sentinel reports:
Orlando could become a national icon of equality through the National Pulse Museum and Memorial, a project led by the onePULSE Foundation that seeks to transform the property into a national monument.
“It’s a combination of the memory of what happened there, but also Orlando’s response to this tragedy. It caused a lot of pain, a lot of sadness, but at the same time a union that I had not seen before,“ said Jerick Mediavilla, who visited the site again in 2020 alongside his husband, state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Ricky Martin, who, joined the onePULSE Foundation as a national spokesperson in February 2021.
This week, the U.S. Senate designated Pulse nightclub as a national memorial with the bill sent to President Biden’s desk.
Six years ago, 49 people were killed in a terrorist attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The following day, we attended a vigil in Soho and sang in solidarity with the victims, their families and friends.
We will always remember them. ?️??https://t.co/8jv8znULUT
— London Gay Men’s Chorus (@LdnGMC) June 12, 2021
Join the The Dru Project in front of the mural at the Student Union for a vigil for the 49 people lives lost during the Pulse shooting 5 years ago. Starting at 11 AM on Sunday. Bring flowers, love, and memories to share. pic.twitter.com/exIX8msvj0
— UCF LGBTQ Services (@UCF_LGBTQ) June 11, 2021
5 years. ?️
At the UCF Remembers Pulse vigil last night, the UCF and Orlando community honored the 49 angels.#UCFRemembershttps://t.co/b1Y9FsdOQx
— UCF ? (@UCF) June 11, 2021
St. Luke’s invites you to an online vigil as we remember the lives lost in the Pulse tragedy. On June 12 at 12pm, visit https://t.co/T8ZBuPHcn4 to watch this live streamed event, and support the LGBTQ+ community in this time of grief by bringing light to our beloved city ❤️ pic.twitter.com/Y97mb96Ns5
— St. Luke’s UMC (@StLukesOrlando) June 6, 2021
I can assure you — if a Swiss Army knife was used at Pulse, we would have had a birthday party for my best friend last week. Not a vigil. https://t.co/OlxgT82ZAt
— Brandon Wolf (@bjoewolf) June 5, 2021