Kissing for Orlando

It’s taken me a few days since to post this and it’s because I’ve been a little lost for words, plus I didn’t want this to come out as a rant about gun laws, homophobes and what the hell the world is coming to. This still probably will, but oh well! I’m kissing for Orlando.

If you haven’t heard about the massacre in Orlando by now, you’ve been living under a rock.

On 12th June 2016, Omar Mateen attended Pulse, a nightclub in Orlando and committed a mass shooting, killing at least 50 people. Now, you will see here how I managed to not use the words “terror attack” “Islam” or “gay” in this description – because frankly the words are irrelevant.

I don’t think it was an attack from Islam extremism, I think it was an attack on people who felt free enough to live their lives as who they wanted to be – because he felt he could not. I think the reason for his feeling like this may have been because of his beliefs, but it was not his religion that made him kill ‘the gays’ (as we are being referred to in the media).

It’s being described as “the deadliest mass shooting in the United States and the nation’s worst terror attack since 9/11.” – it’s a shame this guy did not feel he was able to live freely as he was, regardless of race, religion, sexuality. To commit such horrific crimes I feel was lead by nothing but mental health issues and access to firearms.

I’d like to know why the hell America can’t wake up and see that the whole ‘guns don’t kill people’ nonsense is just that – nonsense. People kill people, with guns! If this guy had a knife and went in there, there would be a significantly lower death rate and he’d have been taken out well before he was because of it. I can’t honestly believe that guns are being used for protection when they are the cause of most murder crimes in the US.

But moving on. This post was because I had a point to make. I’m lucky enough that homophobia has not touched me much in my life, so much so I started to think that maybe that’s the new way of the world now. I thought when this incident happened that I was wrong, my bubble was burst.

But actually, the amount of love I have seen through online social media, local news & TV for Orlando, from people you wouldn’t think would share anything a little ‘gay’, showcasing their support and love for the deaths of these people, people they don’t even know, I think maybe I was right all along.

It’s not there yet…. I mean Australia still hasn’t gotten on board with same sex marriages for fucks same, but still….the world is changing, people are getting on board with it at last and I am lucky that that’s the world I live in. If you want to help out with this in Australia, please click here and show your support!

Check out #KeepKissing for HuffPost and show your support for Orlando.

Don’t let fear stop you from loving anyone. Keep Kissing…or in my case, trying to!

My rainbow heart goes out to all the people who have lost family, friends and loved ones 💔💛💚💙💜💗 xx