Sorrow and Courage

Early this morning, a gunman entered a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and killed at least 50 people. According to current reports, at least 53 others are in area hospitals. Some are critically injured and fighting for their lives. The event appears to be the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Authorities are investigating the tragedy as an act of terrorism and as an anti-LGBT hate crime. It’s too early to know exactly what happened or why. But it’s certain that a strong sense of sorrow will color this month's Gay Pride celebrations.

Each year since the early 1980s, organizers of New York's Pride March have called for several minutes of silence in memory of those we have lost to AIDS and hate crimes. Those minutes will be especially poignant and meaningful in 2016.

Though I haven’t yet seen any official notice, I’m sure that our Pride celebrations will go on. Our community will remain strong and courageous in the face of the crime. For this I know: Hatred and violence can never again overcome our pride.

That was the true meaning of Stonewall, and it must remain a guiding principle — now and forever.