Another American Tragedy
I was going to write something different this morning.
Then a man opened fire on a crowd in Las Vegas, leaving 59 people dead and 520 injured.
I was going to write something different this morning.
Then a man opened fire on a crowd in Las Vegas, leaving 59 people dead and 520 injured.
I still remember exactly where I was, because I was almost there. Here’s my 9/11 story, and how the events of that day became motivation for me to start a family.
I wrote this last year for my newspaper column, shortly after the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 mostly LatinX, LGBTQ young people. One year later, to #HonorThemWithAction, I thought I should post it here.
When I learned of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, my own son was in elementary school, and I was shaken to the core. He is in middle school now, and the Orlando massacre has shaken me again. The victims this time were not young children—but they were all someone’s children.
The terrorist bombing Monday night in Manchester, England—an act that killed an eight-year-old and a 15-year-old, among others—has been much on my mind. How can we raise our children in an era of such tragedies? How can we—and they—not be scared?
I spent the weekend with other journalists at the LGBT Media Journalists Convening in Orlando, Florida. While the entire time was filled with learning and networking (and a dose of fun), the most moving part was visiting the Pulse nightclub, site of last year’s tragic shooting. It reminded me of why I write.
Many of us have a 9/11 story. Here’s mine, which I have posted for many years now—but it doesn’t seem right not to remember it again, even as we move forward to create a better future.
As a parent, few things scare me more than school shootings. That’s one of the reasons I’m keeping the following in mind as we head into election season.
Today’s post is a guest piece by Nadine Smith, co-founder and CEO of Equality Florida, the state’s largest organization dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. She is also a mother—and while she doesn’t speak explicitly about parenthood here, she speaks to a topic that many of us parents (among others) are thinking about these days.
It’s the end of Pride Month, but far from the end of our pride. Last year at this time, our pride was celebratory. This year, it is resolute.
The Fosters, Freeform’s lesbian mom drama, has its summer premiere Monday, and tackles a presciently timely issue: gun violence.