Two years ago the unthinkable happened when a hate-filled monster gunned down 49 people during the early morning hours in Orlando.
Shootings like this, along with far too many school shootings, church shootings, mall shootings, and music festival shootings have become the new normal — and a normal that no one should ever have to accept.
Sara Grossman’s best friend Drew was among those killed in the high-scale violence.
Pulse was a popular college hangout for Grossman and Drew.
“It was a place for us to dance. It was a place for us to feel unabashedly ourselves,” says Grossman, of Everytown Survivor Network.
Gun control activists, including Parkland shooting survivors staged a “die-in” today near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
With the Parkland students taking on the NRA, and becoming the raw voices of a generation — it’s become clear that there is no greater power than the people and immense momentum to Disarm Hate.
“That is a powerful tool in our arsenal to create change in this country,” Pulse survivor Brandon Wolf told the HuffPost. Wolf also lost best friends Drew and Juan.
“No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, young people all over this country should feel more powerful than ever when they are taking on some of the most powerful and corrupt organizations that have totally morally bankrupted our political system," Wolf says. "And they’re taking them head-on. They’re challenging them. And they’re winning these battles.”
In the two years since, Gov. Rick Scott has faced increased scrutiny from the LGBTQ community.
“Drew's desire for inclusion and unity encouraged me to do more for my fellow members of the LGBTQ community, for people of color, religious minorities, and others,” Grossman says.
“Now I'm fighting to disarm hate so that our fellow Americans don't have to worry about being shot and killed because of who they love, how they look, or where they choose to worship."
If you or a loved one is a survivor of gun violence, you know all too well that the legal system has failed us and sadly, the NRA is obsessed with the bottom line over lives.
I feel such outrage and helplessness that it’s only a matter of time before a new horrific headline is splashed across every front page in America.
At least the March for Our Lives organizers changed the gun control conversation.
All we can do now is keep fighting.