We Must Remember That The Orlando Shooting Happened At A Gay Club On Latin Night

*There is a danger in referring the massacre in Orlando as a random act perpetrated by a deranged individual. This was specific and targeted. VL

By Marie Southard Ospina, Bustle

On June 12, I, much like the rest of the world, awoke to the news of a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida that left 50 dead and another 50+ injured earlier that morning. “The deadliest mass shooting in American history,” it’s been dubbed. While people have been quick to blame the shooter’s religious beliefs for the tragedy, it’s important to keep the real motive behind this mass murder in mind: This was an attack of hate against LGBTQIA+ individuals on a Latin-themed dance night.

I’ve never been to PULSE, the gay nightclub where the tragic, nearly unspeakable events unfolded; but I know many who have. In the years since I finished my undergraduate studies, several friends and family members have made their way to both Orlando and Miami: Supposed havens for the LGBTQIA+ community and for Latinos. Nevermind that this is a state thatvoted for Donald Trump in the 2016 primaries. For decades, it’s been what a cousin of mine refers to as “Gay Cuba” — a state that has attracted native Spanish speakers and queers alike; the myriad of pastel hues and eternal cocktails and geographic proximity to Latin America all making it seem like home for so many of us.

Read more NewsTaqco stories on Facebook. >> 

This was an assault on Latinx individuals; on queers being openly queer; on men who dare kiss other men on the street; on Hispanics who’ve strayed too far from the Catholic roots so often thrust upon them — the traditional roots that tell them that men who lie with other men are condemnable, damnable, worthy of stoning; roots that tell them that women who kiss other women are whores; roots that tell them that gender is blue or pink. “Please do not omit that this horrific tragedy happened at a GAY bar. It matters. Queer POC were specifically, violently targeted,” wrote blogger and editor Nicolette Mason on Twitter. “Do not pretend for a second that anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation in the U.S. has not contributed to this violence. It has. It does.”

READ MORE