Queer History 142: Pulse Nightclub Shooting (And Other Times They Tried To Kill Us)

In memory of all those taken from us by hatred. Your lives mattered. Your deaths will not be forgotten. Your legacy lives in every LGBTQIA+ person who refuses to hide.

The blood never really washes out, does it? It seeps into the floorboards, stains the concrete, and burns itself into the collective memory of a community that has been hunted, beaten, and slaughtered for the simple fucking crime of existing. These massacres represent more than just body counts—they are the concentrated essence of centuries of hatred distilled into moments of pure, murderous rage against people whose only sin was loving differently, expressing themselves authentically, or simply seeking a goddamn moment of peace in a world that wanted them dead.

Each of these atrocities carved deep wounds into the LGBTQIA+ psyche, wounds that still weep today. They remind us that our joy is always borrowed time, our safe spaces are never truly safe, and our very existence is a political act that some fuckers will kill to silence.

12-06-2016: Pulse Nightclub Massacre - Orlando, Florida

The Latin beat was thumping, bodies were moving, and for a few precious fucking hours, Pulse was exactly…