The fourth of a ten part series looking at the aftermath of the Pulse shooting in Orlando, solely through the voices of members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Following the shooting, I began seeing members of the community openly worrying on social media, understandably for their lives, but also about the packaging of the attack both by major news outlets and elected officials. It seemed like coverage of the shooting was overwhelmingly formatted as cisgender, heterosexual people talking about members of the queer and Latinx community rather than talking to them. After frustrating hours of fruitlessly searching for perspective from the actual communities affected, I remembered that, in this modern world, I didn't have to wait for any other outlet to have these conversations for me; I could do it myself.
As I started thinking about the project, something else became painfully obvious to me: I couldn't wrap my head around the weight of 49 lives lost. I heard about a news anchor reading all 49 names on air, and was surprised to hear that this simple act took seven minutes. That number, 49, by itself, can feel small. 49 cents, 49 seconds. I wanted to understand the enormity, the massive loss of life, by talking to 49 people who identify within the LGBTQIA+ community, to understand that weight.
The interviews here are presented chronologically by recording date. I spoke with the following people for this episode on June 15 and 16, just three and four days after the attack, and where they’ve given permission, I’ve included their Twitter handles:
16. Dani 17. Shannon @plentyofalcoves 18. Alex @investigaytion 19. Albert @AEWallace 20. Sam
Given the fluidity of language surrounding sexual, gender, and ethnic identities, it can be hard to find current and comprehensive resources for inclusive language. Here are a few that I've found helpful, and I'm happy to add additional resources by recommendation:
GLAAD Media Reference Guide Human Rights Campaign Glossary of Terms Teaching Tolerance: A Gender Spectrum Glossary Trans Student Educational Resources Definitions Why We Say Latinx, via Latina magazine
This episode contains the following music:
"Morning One" by David Szesztay, licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 "Ritual Three" by Jason Leonard, licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0 "non.time" by beat.dowsing, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US "Land Legs" by Andy G. Cohen, licensed under CC BY 4.0 "Night Whispers" by Ketsa, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 "ES" by La venganza de Cheetara, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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