The deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida on the weekend has shaken people across the country and the world, but for one New Brunswick man, the horror of Sunday morning’s events are hitting very close to home.
Mere moments after gunfire broke out at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Shawn Connors says his three friends, who were just leaving the club, ran for their lives.
“They got in a cab and then boom boom, they got out of the cab and they ran,” Connors told Global News Monday.
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Connors says he frantically tried calling his friends the moment he heard about the shooting, finding relief in the news that they were okay.
“But my heart sank for everyone else who was injured and unfortunately the casualties,” Connors said.
Fifty people were killed, including lone gunman Omar Mateen, and 53 others seriously injured in what’s being called the worst mass shooting in American history.
LGBTQ community in shock
The entire LGBTQ community in New Brunswick is gripped with grief.
“Unbelievably tragic — one the of the worst things that has every happened to the queer community,” Moncton’s River of Pride member Danderson said.
“It’s like so far reaching outside of that community too you know — it affects every single queer who thinks about going out at night and has second reserves because of what’s happened now.”
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Danderson says people from the LGBTQ community continue to be targets of hate and violence.
“I guess after marriage equality, people thought it was over and we won the war, but homophobia happens in thousands of instances every single day.”
Charles MacDougall, another member of River of Pride, is helping to plan a candle light vigil for tonight in Moncton.
“I was really scared for the next coming days for myself and how my friends would feel — if they would feel anxious or scared,” MacDougall said.
“It may be hard for people to believe, but for us it is not as hard to believe because we see discrimination still today.”
Both men say they’ve been confronted on the streets in Moncton and targeted with hate speech. They stressed the importance of having a place, such as a nightclub like Pulse, that is a safe environment they feel they can truly be themselves.
“We have these spaces to go out and present as who we are as people because normally, in the societal norm it’s not accepted, so we get harassed or abused or threatened,” MacDougall said.
River of Pride’s vigil in honour of those who lost their lives and everyone impacted by the tragedy is scheduled for Monday night at 8 p.m. at Riverfront Park in Moncton.
“I will be thinking about all of the families and what they are going though and all of the people who were injured at the club and ended up at the hospital and were outed in their hospital bed to their families,” Danderson said.
“I’ll be thinking about my community here and how we can grow stronger, and how we can find a light…how we can find something positive to come from this because there has to be something good that comes from this because otherwise it’s just too depressing.”
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