photo: white house
by mike halterman
Central Florida Moves Forward While Vowing
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The events of June 12, 2016 will be etched into our memories for a very long time. In the early hours of that morning, 49 people, many of whom were our friends and confidants, were taken from thisworld. In the hours afterward, we began the grieving process and struggled to make sense of such a senseless attack on an LGBT safe space right in our own backyard. The day after the shooting, I was asked for a quote from a media outlet regarding how we feel in that moment, and I toldthemsomethingtotheeffect of, "Today is the day we cry, and tomorrow and the days after are days for strength." That was shown to be especially true for Orlando and other cities in
Never to Forget Central Florida, who all banded together to show their support and solidarity with the people wounded and with the families andfriendsofthedeceased. In the immediate aftermath, as the city began to come alive that Sunday morning, people lined up at blood banks across Central Florida. Quickly they were filled to capacity. Some people, who were forced to sit out due to FDA blood screening regulations, stockpiled food and snacks for the people who were donating blood, as the centers quickly ran out of their own stock. Vigils were organized all over the world in addition to C e n t ra l F l o r i d a , w h e re thousands paid their respects in S a r a s o t a , Ta m p a , S t .
Petersburg, and other cities. The vigil at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando, held a week after the tragedy, brought 50,000 people together to celebrate the 49 people who were taken from us far too soon. It was followed five days later by a Spanish-language vigil at the same spot, a reminder that many of the dead belonged to Florida'sHispaniccommunity. As of press time, over 115,000 people from all over the world donated to a GoFundMe page set up for the Pulse victims and their families by Equality Florida. Celebrities such as Jeffree Star got the ball rolling by donating $20,000. The GoFundMe organization donated $100,000 themselves. $6.2millionhasbeen raised via GoFundMe as of press