The texts started flying early.
Notifications lit up my cellphone like a Christmas tree this morning – a gunman killed at least 50 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, and everyone was either sharing the news story or asking whether we lost anyone.
After confirming that our friends in Orlando were alive, we monitored the climbing death toll on our phones while walking the dogs through downtown Dallas. There were more than a dozen bicycle cops on the Katy Trail, and a few nervous security guards at Klyde Warren Park.
Later we brunched in the gayborhood while discussing escape plans for each gay club – would we climb on the roof from S4’s second floor balcony? Is there a back exit door at Havana’s? Would gay guys run to their cars and get guns? (This is Texas, after all.)
The morbid emergency planning was broken by a swarm of people who flooded the Oak Lawn bars. There were cocktails, uncomfortable laughs, and armed security guards. We were uneasy, but still out and supporting each other.
Increased police presence in Oak Lawn after the Pulse nightclub shootings.
The memorial in front of the Centrum building.
The police presence in Oak Lawn at the beginning of The Strip on Cedar Springs.
The Pulse memorial in Oak Lawn, Dallas.
Meanwhile in Miami
My mom did gay brunch in South Beach, and even landed on the news as the “mom of a gay man in Dallas.”
She just returned from Germany, where our relatives probably want to know what the hell is wrong with this country’s gun problem. (We had the same conversation when I got shot.)
My mom giving in interview in front of Palace Bar in South Beach.
Drag queens in Miami releasing balloons in memory of the Pulse Nightclub shootings.
When I left Minnesota for Dallas, I looked forward to the nightlife and shopping.
I never thought about the amount of activism that a strong gay community provides.
We are at home watching a live stream of the rally at the Gay Resource Center (of gay bingo fame). They are raising money for the victims’ families and denouncing statements made by conservative politicians. The Dallas mayor, police chief, and county judge are speaking, reminding the gay community that we are safe and important.
Tonight we will celebrate the people we lost in Orlando, and appreciate the community that we have at home.
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