(Answering as myself, I wouldn’t want to diminish the reality of this in the slightest by responding w/ a fictional character)

What happened in Orlando, the massacre and maiming of innocent people was horrible and tragic. I won’t post a pic of Lestat going “WTF” bc it is too awful for a simple “WTF,” there is no “WTF” statement powerful enough.

Last summer, we were celebrating same-sex marriage being legalized in all 50 states here in the U.S. 

Mexico just approved same-sex marriage across the country. This is Pride month here in the U.S. and as Lin-Manuel Miranda put it so perfectly,

#Love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside! 

This is the program: supporting our LGBT+ community as equals. Anyone who refuses to get with the program is invited to leave the country. Murder is not the answer and it won’t stop the evolution.

[Flag by @fulifuli, plz reblog it from them if u like it!]

I’ve seen a number of great links/posts about this

(though I don’t know about their factual accuracy), here are a few, collecting them here, rather than reblogging each one bc this is still primarily a fandom blog. 

• What happened?
  
• This had nothing to do with religion
• A masterpost of masterposts of things that might be helpful
• A list of happy LGBT+ w/ happy endings
• “Things I witnessed today at LA Pride”
  
• An eloquently written post
• Twitter caps of a few of the victims, #Rest in Power
• This illustration

“If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliche that must have been left behind in the ‘60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.” – John Lennon

One of the reasons I try to keep this blog focused on fandom is to provide an escape from reality; one of the ways to cope with tragedy is to visit fiction, and feel recharged enough to come back and face reality freshly. Some people are strong enough to fight that fight without needing a break from it, and I applaud them for that durability. 

No matter what you contribute, even if it’s in a small way, sending prayers or kind thoughts, donating blood or money or time, cheering someone up; or on a larger social scale, organizing groups of people to work on gun control legislation and try to make this a safer and more peaceful world to live in, it’s all cumulative and it all matters. I do my little part. I don’t have enough money to give significantly but I reach out when I can. I’m an ordained priest, I would love to exercise that power for the LGBT+ community!

I’m numb from this happening again and again and again, but I think the world is evolving, day by day, and year by year. I’ve witnessed homophobia decrease dramatically in the past 20 years, from the word “gay” being something you could barely whisper about to it being part of a larger community in which huge groups of people have parades! In high school, my friend came out to me first, when we were both 15, it was before school started up again. She said she understood if I didn’t want to be friends with her anymore since it could mean losing all the others, but I didn’t hesitate to tell her I would stay with her. I did lose other friends but they weren’t people I would want in my life anymore, knowing that they were homophobic. And I feel the same way about it today, more than ever.