Pulse LBGTQ tragedy 🏳️🌈 7 years later.
Living in Orlando, that day was a nightmare! So much beauty is gone.
I was living 38 miles from the club.
Every single time I drive past the club, I feel sad!
Seven years ago, I was completely in shock and devastated!
Yesterday was the 7-year anniversary. — I wanted to write about it yesterday, but I just couldn’t. — Even now, it’s hard to write this.
It was the local news all day yesterday.
Just remembering it, brought back so much sadness. Even now, I am forcing myself to write this! — So it will be brief.
The Pulse nightclub shooting was a tragedy that claimed the lives of 49 people. — Pure insanity!
On June 12, 2016, 49 people were killed and 53 were injured in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The shooter, Omar Mateen, was a 29-year-old American-born Muslim who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a 3-hour standoff with police. The shooter was eventually killed by police.
The Pulse nightclub shooting was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history at the time, and it remains the deadliest mass shooting at a nightclub in U.S. history. The shooting was also the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Who was this shooter?
The shooter at the Pulse nightclub was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old American-born Muslim. He pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a 3-hour standoff with police. Mateen was eventually killed by police.
Omar Mateen had a history of mental health problems.
He had been investigated by the FBI twice, but no charges were ever filed against him.
Mateen entered the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and began shooting.
He killed 49 people and injured 53 others.
He held hostages for three hours before being killed by police.
The Pulse nightclub shooting was a tragedy
In a 9–1–1 call made shortly after the shooting began, the killer, Mateen swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and said the U.S. killing of Abu Waheeb in Iraq the previous month “triggered” the shooting.[2] He later told a negotiator he was “out here right now” because of the American-led interventions in Iraq and in Syria and that the negotiator should tell the United States to stop the bombing. The incident was deemed a terrorist attack by FBI investigators.
It was “Latin Night”, at the Pulse club, and most of the victims were Latino.
It is the deadliest incident in the history of violence against LGBT people in the United States, surpassing the UpStairs Lounge arson attack in 1973, the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the September 11 attacks, and is second only to the 2017 Las Vegas shooting as the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
It was a shocking scene. 📺 This is the news report!
🎬It includes the surveillance cam footage which is blurring the victims, but not Omar Mateen, the shooter. ⏱️Run time…2-min 30-sec.
53 people were injured that night in the club.
The LBGTQ community went to try and help the victims by donating blood.
I was shocked to find out that they were turned away.
Gay people were not allowed to donate blood after the Pulse tragedy because of a long-standing policy by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that banned men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood. This policy was put in place in 1985, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, when there was a lot of fear and uncertainty about the virus.
The FDA’s policy was based on the idea that MSM were more likely to be HIV-positive than other groups of people. However, this is no longer the case. Today, HIV testing is very accurate and reliable, and there is no evidence that MSM is any more likely to be HIV-positive than other groups of people.
In 2020, the FDA announced that it was considering changing its policy on blood donation from MSM. In 2023, the FDA proposed a new policy that would allow MSM to donate blood if they have not had sex with another man in the past three months. This new policy is still under review, but it is a significant step forward in the fight against discrimination in blood donation.
The Pulse tragedy highlighted the importance of blood donation.
This was discrimination and outright STUPID!
This horrible policy prevented many people from helping the victims of the tragedy. — A disgace, right?
Finally, this was changed.
The new FDA policy is a step in the right direction, but it is not perfect. The three-month waiting period is still discriminatory, and it is based on outdated assumptions about HIV transmission. The FDA should continue to work to create a blood donation policy that is fair and inclusive for all people.
The FDA announced this new policy on May 11, 2023.
that it is lifting its lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). The new policy will go into effect on July 26, 2023.
Under the new policy, MSM will be able to donate blood if they meet certain criteria listed below…
- They have not had sexual contact with another man in the past three months.
2. They are not currently engaging in any high-risk behaviors, such as sharing needles or having sex with multiple partners.
3. They are tested for HIV and other bloodborne diseases at the time of donation.
The FDA said the new policy is based on the latest scientific evidence, which shows that HIV transmission risk is low among men who have sex with men who meet the criteria.
What do you think about the new policy?
LGBTQ advocates give some mixed reviews…
Some praised the FDA for finally lifting the ban, while others said the three-month waiting period is still discriminatory.
The FDA said claims that it will continue to monitor the new policy and make changes as needed.
🎬 Pulse victims honored on 7th Anniversary of nightclub massacre — ⏱1 min 33-sec
Here is a list of the 49 people who were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting…
- Stanley Almodovar III, 23
- Amanda Alvear, 25
- Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26
- Rodolfo Ayala-Ayala, 33
- Alejandro Barrios Martinez, 21
- Martin Benitez Torres, 33
- Antonio D. Brown, 30
- Darryl R. Burt II, 29
- Jonathan A. Camuy Vega, 24
- Angel L. Candelario-Padro, 28
- Simon A. Carrillo Fernandez, 31
- Juan Chavez-Martinez, 25
- Luis D. Conde, 39
- Cory J. Connell, 21
- Tevin E. Crosby, 25
- Franky J. Dejesus Velazquez, 50
- Deonka D. Drayton, 32
- Mercedez M. Flores, 26
- Peter O. Gonzalez-Cruz, 22
- Juan R. Guerrero, 22
- Paul T. Henry, 41
- Frank Hernandez, 27
- Miguel A. Honorato, 30
- Javier Jorge-Reyes, 40
- Jason B. Josaphat, 19
- Eddie J. Justice, 30
- Anthony L. Laureano Disla, 25
- Christopher A. Leinonen, 32
- Brenda L. Marquez McCool, 49
- Jean C. Mendez Perez, 35
- Akyra Monet Murray, 18
- Kimberly Morris, 37
- Jean C. Nieves Rodriguez, 27
- Luis O. Ocasio-Capo, 20
- Geraldo A. Ortiz-Jimenez, 25
- Eric Ivan Ortiz-Rivera, 36
- Joel Rayon Paniagua, 32
- Enrique L. Rios Jr., 25
- Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, 37
- Yilmary Rodriguez Solivan, 24
- Christopher J. Sanfeliz, 24
- Xavier Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35
- Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25
- Edward Sotomayor Jr., 34
- Shane E. Tomlinson, 33
- Leroy Valentin Fernandez, 25
- Luis S. Vielma, 22
- Luis Daniel Wilson-Leon, 37
- Jerald A. Wright, 31
🙏 It is important to remember the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting and to work to hopefully prevent future tragedies from happening.
Below is a one-minute video:👇👇👇
Here’s what’s happened since the deadly Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando 7 years later. — 😒 I am not a Ron DeSantis fan! 👺
The Ron DeSaantes story is for another day.
I personally am not a fan.
So who is this Jan Sebastian writer chick?
I had a stroke so I am disabled and am kicking major ass.…well in some ways. I can’t walk or talk well but I’m a writing MO-FO! Kickin’ serious BUTT 100%!
This is my silly stroke therapy video. The focus on my face is hilarious! A crazy-ass redhead who is not at all normal and proud of it. I love people and love helping them. Unconventional seems right. Fearless and focused.
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🎨🎨🎨 Just for fun a time-lapse painting!🎨🎨🎨
🍸Huge martini paintings ROCK! — TIME LAPSE!
I painted a few. 🎨 HERE’S ONE I RECORDED WHILE PAINTING!🎬Which I did before my stroke.
🍸A huge time-lapse martini painting is cool — ⏱1 min 51 sec
