As the nation continues to mourn the victims of mass shootings in Texas and Buffalo, among others, today marks the date of one of the nation's worst mass shootings, when 49 people, mostly young LGBTQ+ and Latino, were killed at Pulse nightclub in Orlando.
She said gun violence remains a major LGBTQ+ issue, with three-fourths of homicides against transgender people — including nearly eight in ten homicides of Black trans women — involving a gun.
“We are facing a rising tide of hate violence against our communities, attacks fueled by racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism,” said Madison. “Today and every day, together we are calling for immediate, measurable action towards this transformation — action that must include common sense gun reform.”
It was early on June 12, 2016, when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, leaving 49 people dead and 53 wounded. The gunman, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group during a three-hour standoff with law enforcement authorities before being killed in a shootout with police.
At the time, the Pulse massacre was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. However, another mass shooting the following year along the Las Vegas Strip became the deadliest when 58 people were killed by a single gunman firing shots from a hotel.