Four years ago, the deadliest attack on the LGBTQ+ community took the lives of 49 people at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, leaving Central Florida mourning for the loss of these lives but standing stronger together after. Today we remember and honor the lives of the 49 and stand strong to continue fighting against the injustices of racial and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination. This attack against the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ community of Central Florida was not a standalone event. It is part of the ongoing violence that marginalized people, particularly Black and Brown LGBTQ+ people, have faced and continue to face today. We see it now in the fight against police brutality and in the recent deaths of Dominique Fells, Riah Milton, Tony McDade and Nina Pop, Black trans people gone too soon. While the Central Florida community was able to mobilize quickly after Pulse, we recognize, now more than ever, that there is still a lot of work left to do in the fight against hate. Hope CommUnity Center recommits to #HonorThemWithAction and continue to fight against discrimination by building bridges and strengthening community ties between the immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities so we can fight for liberation together.
