NORTHAMPTON — Members of the local LGBT community and their allies are reeling from the targeted hate displayed Sunday morning during the gay nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla., that took 50 lives.
Lena Wilson of Easthampton said she got online to figure out what happened after a text message alerted her to the occurrence.
“I went through all five stages of grief in 10 seconds,” she said, noting that she grew up in Clearwater, Fla. — roughly two hours from Orlando. “I don’t think I stopped crying for most of the day Sunday,” she said.
Across the Pioneer Valley, people were pondering the tragedy and finding ways to have an impact, from leaders of a church and school to the mayor of a city.
On Monday morning, the Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher issued a statement to all members of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts.
“The public health crisis that is gun violence just claimed 50 more lives,” he said. “Add this to the 91 per day that die in the United States through gun violence,” the statement continued.
“When will we wake up?” Fisher asked. “When will our elected officials show some courage? In the wake of the slaughter and wounding of 100 LGBTQ people in Orlando, we must acknowledge that homophobia and racism are also at the heart of our disease.
“Our love surrounds all who bear the weight of this tragedy,” Fisher said.
Hind Mari of Amherst, who is Muslim, is well connected to the LGBT community. Just Friday night, she notes, she was celebrating her daughter’s high school graduation at a celebration with her husband Abed Jaradat and many of their close LGBT friends.
“I can’t even tell you where to start,” she said in reference to her emotions upon hearing of the shooting. “Basically I’m hurt over the horrible loss of lives and also about the hatred out there in the world,” she said.
Mari also fears that the tragedy will be taken as an excuse for Islamophobia.
“The Islam I know doesn’t condone anything like that,” she said. “I don’t know any Muslim person who is in agreement with this. Everyone is horrified.”
On top of all her sadness about the “act of anger itself,” Mari noted, she feels added pain that Muslim perpetrators seem to be “immediately attached to their faith,” in a way that she feels others who have carried out violent attacks are not. Many other religions, she said, have associations of violence against certain groups that are not indicative of all people with that faith.
“He doesn’t represent me, or Islam,” she said. “To me, this shooting is an issue of oppression — a human rights issue.”
Mari and Wilson both hope all community members will converge to stand in solidarity for the victims.
Wilson added that as a lesbian, she knows how precious LGBT spaces are in that community and grieves the lives lost and altered.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about the alternate universe that definitely exists where I could have been there,” she said.
But the shock won’t keep Wilson from raising her voice in support and solidarity with those impacted.
She has organized a candlelight vigil Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in front of Northampton City Hall. The event will serve to amplify the voices of the community by providing a place for them to “express grief in a way that will allow them to be heard,” she said.
Wilson added that the shooting at the nightclub took place on Latin night, meaning that persons who are LGBT and Latino have a very limited space — a space that was violated Sunday morning, she said.
In the days that follow, Wilson is looking to heal in “the best way she can.”
She said she plans to continue on in her pursuit of social justice and community building with “added fervor.”
Events in support of those affected are popping up across western Massachusetts and Wilson hopes that if people feel comfortable, they will show up to those events find a sense of “togetherness.”
“One of the worst things that can happen as a result is feeling like you’re alone,” she said.
Sarah Crosby can be reached at scrosby@gazettenet.com.