Remembering Pulse five years later

Voornaam,

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, Florida. While to many it was yet another dark chapter in the American legacy of gun violence, to the LGBTQ+ community, the mayhem tore through our hearts as surely as the spray of an automatic weapon stole the lives of 49, wounded another 53, irrevocably altered the lives of hundreds, and left Orlando and the nation stunned.

Targeted, killed and wounded were the vibrant youth and allies of LGBTQ+ Orlandoans. Many victims were Black, Latino, and Latina, and the horrific cascade of gunfire was the culminating act of a deranged terrorist. It was hate in its most insidious and awful manifestation, and that legacy of hate has only been massaged and rejuvenated in the five years that have passed.

But throughout the roiling and often violent days of the Trump era and its aftermath, there are slight glimmers that the country may be ready to confront the ugliness. In a rare bipartisan vote, Congress passed HR 49, designating the Pulse site as a national memorial. The legislation passed the U.S. House on May 12, and the U.S. Senate voted for the bill unanimously just this week.

But the key to real progress is not in the bipartisan homage to victims, but in the conviction of those in power to take bipartisan action, and address American violence in its many forms forthrightly.

Like the Pulse survivors, who turned their devastating grief into action, we honor the victims by our own acts, whether by simply supporting local LGBTQ+ businesses as we emerge from COVID restrictions, or by being citizen advocates for common sense gun safety legislation overwhelmingly supported by a majority of Americans.

There are no Pride parades in which to march this June, but we can honor the victims of Pulse by paying it forward, and help make our state and our nation a little bit safer and a little bit more welcoming.

Thank you,

KC Hanson
Chair
Democratic Party of Oregon

If you're able, please consider making a donation to support our work to keep Oregon blue in 2021 and beyond.

Paid for by the Democratic Party of Oregon | Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee | 232 NE 9th Ave, Portland OR 97232

Democratic Party of Oregon
232 NE 9th Ave.
Portland, OR 97232
United States

This email was sent to newsletter@newslettercollector.com

Reaching and communicating with Oregon Democrats and our supporters is critical for the Democratic Party of Oregon as we work to keep electing Democrats up and down the ballot.

If you'd like to only receive our most important messages, please click here. We hope you'll stay, but if you wish to no longer receive our messages, you can unsubscribe, but it will be much more difficult for us to reach you with important information on how to stay involved and elect Democrats.