Tag Archives: Orlando

BRITAIN: Gay Journo Walks Off Set When Hosts Won’t Acknowledge Homophobia As Root Of Attack [VIDEO]

The Independent reports: Journalist Owen Jones stormed out of a live television interview about the mass killing in Orlando in protest at his interviewer’s refusal to name the shooting an attack on LGBT people. “At the end of the day this was a homophobic hate crime, as well as terrorism and it has to be called out, as I have …

Read More »

John Oliver On Orlando: This Just Hurts [VIDEO]

Entertainment Weekly recaps: John Oliver opened Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight by commenting on the mass shooting at an Orlando, Florida gay nightclub on early Sunday morning that left 50 people dead. “As I’m sure you know by now, at least 50 people were killed by a gunman at a gay nightclub in what is being described as a …

Read More »

Orlando Sentinel: Our Community Will Heal

The Orlando Sentinel today published a stark front page free of the usual jumble of news items. Instead, this editorial appears: Words cannot adequately convey the depth of the horror and grief in Central Florida in the wake of what now ranks as the worst mass shooting in American history. Orlando now tragically sits atop a list of infamy, sharing …

Read More »

Barry Walters: Why Gay Clubs Are Our Refuge

Veteran music journalist Barry Walters has penned an excellent take on why our nightclubs have always been a refuge for the LGBT community. From Billboard Magazine: Since Stonewall and well before, gay clubs have been our schools, our places of worship. Nightclubs are where we’ve long learned to unlearn hate, and learn to become and love our real selves. They’re …

Read More »

Father Of Orlando Terrorist: He Should Have Left Punishing Those Homosexuals To God Himself [VIDEO]

From the Washington Post: The father of the gunman in the Orlando nightclub shooting said early Monday his son shouldn’t have carried out the massacre because “God himself will punish those involved in homosexuality.” In a video posted to Facebook shortly after midnight, Seddique Mateen, who lives in Florida, called the shooting “tragic” but said his son, Omar Mateen, was …

Read More »

Editorial: Anti-LGBT Hate Caused This

While some right wing outlets and commentators are discounting or ignoring the identities of the victims in Orlando, the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press gets right to the heart of it. They write: Let’s start here: The Pulse nightclub shootings — the largest mass murder in American history, claiming at least 50 lives — were an act of …

Read More »

New York Daily News: Thanks, NRA

From the New York Daily News: His killing machine of choice was a mass murderer’s best friend — and his enabler a gun lobby that has long opposed efforts to keep assault weapons out of the hands of bloodthirsty maniacs. The madman who killed at least 50 people and wounded 53 others at an Orlando club early Sunday was armed …

Read More »

World Trade Center Mourns Orlando’s LGBT Victims

At the request of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the spire of the nation’s tallest building is illuminated in rainbow colors tonight in solidarity with Orlando’s LGBT community. In midtown stands an even more unusual sight: the Empire State Building has gone completely dark in mourning.

Read More »

New Yorkers Turn Out To Mourn Orlando

With only a few hours notice, a massive crowd of New Yorkers jammed tiny Sheridan Square in Manhattan’s West Village late this afternoon to express anger and heartbreak over last night’s massacre in Orlando. As a steady stream of mourners arrived to lay flowers outside the iconic Stonewall Inn, veteran activists including Ann Northrop and Ken Kidd clambered onto a …

Read More »

HRC Head Chad Griffin: Hatred Seen In Orlando Is The Same Hatred That Killed Matthew Shepard [VIDEO]

Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin, National Center for Transgender Equality head Mara Keisling, and NAACP president Cornell Brooks this afternoon gave a nationally broadcast statement on the massacre in Orlando. Watch below. This is LGBT history. This is American history.

Read More »

ISIS Claims Credit For Orlando Massacre

The Hill reports: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility Sunday for a deadly nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that left 50 dead and 53 injured. “The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” ISIS said in …

Read More »

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch To Leave China And Return To DC For Oversight Of Orlando Investigation

Via press release from US Attorney General Loretta Lynch: “I have been briefed by Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates and FBI Director James Comey on the horrific terrorist attack in Orlando and will continue to receive updates on the situation. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this very difficult time. The Department of Justice, including the …

Read More »

MARK OF RESPECT FOR VICTIMS: President Obama Orders US Flags To Be Flown At Half-Staff Worldwide

Via White House press release: As a mark of respect for the victims of the act of hatred and terror perpetrated on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in Orlando, Florida, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of …

Read More »

LIVE VIDEO: Obama Speaks About Orlando Massacre

President Obama will be at the podium in the White House briefing room at 1:30PM Eastern to speak about the massacre in Orlando. Watch below.

Read More »

FBI: Killer Was Known As “Possible ISIS Sympathizer”

CNN reports: Omar Saddiqui Mateen was the gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing at least 50 people, two law enforcement officials told CNN. The 29-year-old suspect was known to the FBI, the officials said — one of hundreds of people on the agency’s radar suspected of being ISIS sympathizers, according to two law enforcement officials. …

Read More »

Mother Of Missing Son: I Left Him With “I Love You”

From ABC News: A mother who can’t get in touch with her son after the deadly shooting at an Orlando nightclub said she is waiting desperately for word. Christine Leinonen said she “just happened” to wake up at 3 a.m., about an hour after the shooting started at Pulse Orlando, a gay club. She saw her son Christopher’s friend post …

Read More »

Donation Page Set Up For Orlando Massacre Victims

From the page: Equality Florida, the state’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization is collecting contributions via this GoFundMe page to support the victims of the horrific shooting at Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub. Please contribute and share this page. We are reeling from the tragic news that a gunman opened fire on the 2am capacity crowd at Pulse …

Read More »

LGBT Groups React To Orlando Massacre

Equality Florida: We are reeling from the tragic news that a gunman opened fire on the 2am capacity crowd at Pulse leaving 20 people dead and 42 injured according to preliminary reports. We are heartbroken and angry that senseless violence has once again destroyed lives in our state and in our country. Gay clubs hold a significant place in LGBTQ …

Read More »

Orlando Killer’s Father Denies Connection To Religion: My Son Was Angry Because He Saw Two Men Kissing

From NBC News: Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Mateen was born in New York in 1986 and was listed as living at a residence in Port St. Lucie, about 125 miles south of Orlando. The incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism, officials said. Mir Seddique, Mateen’s father told NBC News, “this has nothing to do …

Read More »

Orlando Mayor Raises Death Toll To 50, Now The Deadliest Mass Shooting In United States History

Moments ago Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer raised the death toll to 50. Dyer added that another 52 nightclub patrons remain hospitalized. The increased death toll means that the Pulse nightclub killings are now the deadliest mass shooting in United States history. Now eclipsed is the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech in which 32 died. BREAKING: “There are 50 casualties” in …

Read More »