Time has healed this wound a bit. But I will say that when Anthony Bourdain, someone I did not know but felt like I did and loved very much died, my thought was, “this is almost as bad as the Pulse Massacre.”
But even Bourdain dying is not as bad as the Pulse Massacre.
Nothing will ever be worse than that in my lifetime.
I’ve never married or had kids, but I have had gay men in my life from a very early age. The have been my guidelights from one to another. I would not be here without the gay men who seemingly love me for no reason. I am forever grateful for the gay men in my life. They have been there at my job, where we instantly bond, in my social life when I had one, and especially on my Internet life.
Thank you all for putting up with me. And I have tried to be there for a handful of young ones. And that has been another blessing. After watching Pose, you might need to call me Mother. lol. Which is what my siblings called Mama when she was being a certain way.
So to the gay men who have been my everything, and to my children who need a mother, Happy Pride Month.
And take a moment to remember those who lost their lives on Orlando.
What a wonderful post Mother. I, too, have many gay guy friends. I love them dearly. My brother is gay and is a blast to be around. Thank you.
This is beautiful. Thank you for loving gay men as humans that happen to be gay and fabulous and not as accessories as so many people do.
Thanks, Mother. As one of your LGBTQ+ readers, I really appreciate this, and all you do to make us all feel welcome here. And frankly, this week feels extra poignant here in Vegas, in that it’s only been eight months since 1 October. Jeez, I’m going to have to try extra hard to hold back the tears today.
I spent quite a bit of time in my 20’s at the Sunday night drag shows. Everyone there was so completely accepting of me and other straight visitors entering their little safe haven even though the world was far less kind to them outside their 4 little walls there. It’s so disgusting all the acts of violence against the lbgtq community but especially in one of the few places they have to be their selves and celebrate their love , friendship and unique universe. It saddens me when the innocent no longer have their safe havens like this or school to feel protected.
You made my day with this post ! xo Marc
TT, thank you for recognizing the 2nd anniversary of the Pulse Massacre. I live in Orlando and that day was beyond horrifying. As details of what happened started to trickle out and my Facebook feed filled with posts from friends and family checking in to say they were safe and asking if others were, all I could do was sit on my couch with my 2-year old son and my 2-month old son and cry. But the City of Orlando, The City Beautiful, refused to be defined by that one act of hatred and instead showed the nation and the world that we are all One City, One Family, One Love, One Heart, One Pulse.
I’m a little bit weepy right now, but damn it, I don’t care who you are, what the color of your skin is, your religion, your orientation, etc., I love you guys.
So fucking clichè, but Gaga really did say it best: Rejoice and love yourself today, cause baby you were born this way!
Thank you for this post TT and god bless the 49 beautiful souls taken from us on that awful night, they’ll never be forgotten ❤💛💚💜💙
I truly hope Tamara that you see yourself the way others see you.
Your a lot to so many.
Off topic probably- but I owe my sobriety to a Tuesday night AA meeting for Gay men and women in Red Bank, NJ twenty-five years ago. I’m straight but it was the only meeting where I felt comfortable. I felt a lack of judgment at that meeting, an easy going acceptance. I was embraced, taken into the fold and given a weekly coffee commitment for one year to make sure I’d show up each week I didn’t need a reason- I lived for that meeting each week. I missed it so much when I moved away. I’m still grateful to those men and women for accepting me and giving me a solid foundation in sobriety.
House of Tattles!
Thank you for posting.
Giving up a special prayer today.
Love you TT, and it’s my first time commenting after years of reading.
Love the sentiment of this post. I’m the child of gay parents and it means the world to me when LGBTQ issues are discussed and brought to life.
With that said, there’s a lot of evidence that the shooter had zero clue that it was a gay nightclub, and wasn’t targeting homosexuals. We still lost the lives of many people, and that in itself is a horrible tragedy, but I think it’s worse to frame it as a deliberate attack on the LGBTQ community, which it was not. No offense to you, no offense to the sentiment of this post. Please don’t yell at me now about commenting rules, a big reason why I never post anything despite the fact I visit this site like 20x a day. Wishing you the best!
I’m not sure a debate over who you believe regarding the hate crime is appropriate on this day. Many men came forward to say they had seen the killer inside of Pulse prior to the night of the massacre others claimed he was on gay dating apps. The FBI branded them as liars and said their stories were not credible. The killer was not found on any previous surveillance tape. I take issue with your conclusion that the killer didn’t know it was a gay night club. For me there is not enough definitive evidence either way. For me it seems more likely than not that he did know.
And if your are making a comment on a memorial thread and you have to use the words “no offense” that generally should be a tip off that the comment is offensive. I do not understand why in these types of comments there are always experts dashing in to correct semantics or police words, or to measure the level of how horrible a tragedy on some sort of sliding scale.
All we need to do is remember.
Everybody say love! – RuPaul Charles
Love and blessings to you all❤️
ALL.
Thanks, TT
😘😘
Orlando is my hometown. I hopped on my bike thru Pine Hills. My family is still there. As soon as I was able my ass was at Southern Nights which to a straight girl was freedom. Dance till you collapse no creepy old men drooling. My aunt is the first legally married and legally adopting gay couple of Orlando.
To say that this douchebag did not deliberately stalk his victims feels akin to a gut punch.
Kinda jerky really.
On a higher note thank you for acknowledging Pulse nightclub memorial. My aforementioned Aunt lost two of her vibrant young employees that night. Two young full of life people that went to do what we all do. Blow off steam and dance your ass off in a safe accepting place.
Warm regards TT💓
Just too heartbreaking.
As one of your queer readers, TT, thank you for this. It’s posts like this that make me miss Uretha as well as my other friends who have been victims of hate crimes (plus up to the too many trans women and men victims of crime).
You do us well, and I’ll never forget our exchange on twitter with me explaining pansexuality to you. I’ll love your blog forever. 🙂