During the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, an unfathomable tragedy occurred in Orlando, Florida. In a senseless act of hatred and violence, a gunman entered popular gay nightclub, Pulse, and opened fire on hundreds of unsuspecting patrons, leaving 49 dead and over 50 critically injured. I, along with others across the world, have been grappling with how to put my feelings into the proper words – anger, sadness, sympathy – how can we even begin to describe the level of astonishment, anguish and sadness that we feel for our brothers and sisters in the LGBT community?
Having friends with so many different beliefs would normally lead me to stay off of social media during a time like this. The pointless, and often severely uneducated, arguments on Facebook and Twitter about gun control, religious beliefs and political beliefs tend to be angry, tacky and overwhelming and are not things I want to see when something so tragic and heartbreaking occurs. I expected to see plenty of this on social media after the devastation that took place at Pulse Nightclub, however, I was surprised and pleased to see nothing but love filling my newsfeed.
Companies, celebrities and regular people have all been using the power of social media to spread positivity during an incredibly dark time. People everywhere have been touched by this tragedy, so I wanted to share a few examples of how social media users across the world are coming together to support members of the LGBT community.
Facebook Profile Picture Frame
As we’ve seen during other significant events, Facebook activated a special frame for users to add to their current profile picture. The phrase ‘We Are Orlando’ with the LGBT flag can be added to any Facebook user’s profile photo to show public support and love for our LGBT family.
GoFundMe for Pulse Victims
As word of the situation in Orlando spread, Equality Florida (the largest LGBT rights group in the state), created a GoFundMe fundraiser to support the victims and their families. This fundraiser has been shared hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of times across all social media platforms. The group’s initial fund raising goal of $100,000 was quickly met and surpassed and is now at 3.6 million dollars and rising by the minute. Anyone who wishes to donate can do so here.
BuzzFeed posts video showing support from around the world
Countries around the world mourned with Orlando after the violent attack took place on Sunday. From Seoul to Rome to Dallas, people have come together to cry, to sing, to hug and to show the victims that they are not alone. This video has over 3 million views and has been shared over 50,000 times.
In the wake of devastation and despair, we’ve been able to see a massive outpour of love and support for the victims of this tragedy and for members of the LGBT community through social media. My hope is that this love continues to shine strong and prevail and that it can help provide even a small inkling of hope, love and support to all those who were affected by this unbelievably unfortunate tragedy. My heart is with you all. #WeAreOrlando
“And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.” -Lin-Manuel Miranda.
