Yesterday I went to a gay bar.....(one year later).

One year ago I wrote this blog post after the terrible tragedy at Pulse, a gay dance club, in Orlando. Through my fear, anger and sorrow of seeing this happen at a place that I would most definitely frequent, a fire was lit under me. I hoped that fire wouldn't go away. I hoped that I would never forget, and I hoped that I would take action. 

The fire in me didn't die, but unfortunately it calmed. 

Fortunately, so many of us are reflecting one year later. I hope the fire is back! Because one year later there have been some minor state victories for sensible gun control, but unfortunately at the federal level things are the same or even worse due to the nefarious nature of the current presidential administration and Republican congress. 

We are experiencing a national crisis, and the gun epidemic in the USA is a notable part of that crisis. We have to stand up and continue to fight even when it doesn't feel like it is enough. 

There is no choice. I cannot let the lives of my friends In Orlando who I will never know be in vain. 

I have to remember what it felt like that day. One year later. 



Yesterday I went to a gay bar by Dan Rosson 6/12/2016
Edited 6/12/2017


Yesterday I went to a gay bar.  I don't always go to gay bars. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't.  I tend to go to places that I am going to feel comfortable in whether that be gay or friendly to everyone.  But on the evening of  June 11th I went to a gay bar.  It was gay pride weekend in Boston. So being proudly out, I went to a gay bar.  It was fun. I hung out with my friends.  I drank a few beers.  We eyed a few sad fashion errors.  Kind of what I do at ANY bar.  Gay. Gay friendly.  Or straight.

I was not at THAT bar. THAT gay club.

It was a few hours before it happened.  My fun was not ruined by automatic rifle fire.  I was able to walk to a restaurant and get some pizza.  I was able to make a poor choice and attempt a very bad dance on a wall while ripping my pants and risking further beer induced minor injuries.   I was able to have a couple more beers.  My fun was not ended by automatic rifle fire.  My life was not stopped by automatic rifle fire.

But it could have been. I was lucky that night.

You see there are people who don't know me who wish I was a dead.  There are those who wish to do me harm because of who I love. Because of who I am attracted to.   Because I am unapologetic about being who I am.

There are those that wish harm to many of you too:  Because you are black, because you are Asian, because you are a Muslim, because you don't speak much English, because you are a woman.  Because you are many things you should always be very proud of. Unfortunately, you are not the things that a small handful of sick hateful people want you to be.

Fortunately, those evil people are few and far between.  As Anne Frank once said, "I still believe in spite of everything that people are good at heart." I, like Anne Frank, believe most people are good at heart.  Even the misguided.  Unfortunately, there are a small few that just aren't good.   There are a  few that choose evil over good. Those few will always find a way to do evil.

But we must not make it easy for them. We don't have to.

We must not make it easy for them to get guns that will make it possible for them to kill 50 people in a couple short minutes. We do not have to.

"But the second amendment!!" you gasp.

That amendment was created when slow loading muskets and cannons were the norm over two hundred years ago. Of course, the second amendment is still relevant.  But I think any amendment that continues to compromise the safety of so many people day after day needs to be seriously thought about. I'm not anti-gun, but the 2nd amendment is broken. We must fix it.

"But but!" You gasp, "that  man would have found a way to kill people regardless. So there is NOTHING  we can do."

That is wrong.  If that man had just walked in with a regular shot gun or with a knife he would not have been able to kill 49 people!  Any life lost is terrible but 49 lives did not have to be lost at Pulse.  That isn't difficult to understand! Studies have shown that the places in the USA that have fewer guns have fewer gun related deaths.  Massachusetts, where I live,  is one of the states with the most gun regulations. It is also one of the states with the fewest gun deaths. But we have to do this as a nation and not at a state by state basis or tragedies like this will continue to happen all too frequently.

We must not continue to let people who wish to commit evil to others have easy access to automatic rifles. We must not continue to let people with violent criminal backgrounds have easy access to any
kind of gun.  We must not continue to let it be easier in some states to get a gun than it is to get a driver's license.  We must not let this continue!!


We cannot let my friends in Orlando deaths be in vain.  We cannot let our Jewish brothers and sisters killed in Seattle in 2006 be in vain.   We cannot let the death of the precious children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown CT be in vain.

We can't! We have to act

We cannot let this one be forgotten and then let this all start over again the next time it happens!

Please.  Join me to find ways to end unnecessary gun violence.
Here are some  groups I know that are working hard to make this happen.

The Coalition to End Gun Violence
http://csgv.org

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense
http://momsdemandaction.org

Sign this petition to Ban Assault Weapons
        http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/ban-assault-weapons

An Easy Guide to Contacting Your Elected representatives about Gun Control
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-silverberg/guide-elected-representatives-gun-control_b_8708154.html

Everytown for Gun Safety
http://everytown.org/

Gays Against Guns
http://gaysagainstguns.net

Follow Gun Control Now on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/guncontrolnow.campaign/

Know how your congressional representatives vote on gun control issues
http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/06/12/hypocrites-republicans-offering-prayers-accepting-money-nra/

Ways we can help The Orlando community
http://www.hrc.org/blog/ways-to-help-in-the-wake-of-the-orlando-nightclub-shooting

If you know others groups.   If you know other ways,  please comment! Please join them. Let's stop this. We can. We must.