John,

Seven years ago, a gunman walked into Pulse nightclub in Orlando and killed 49 people, most of them members of the LGBTQ community. Pulse was a safe haven for many, including myself, and this event shook not only Orlandoans but LGBTQ people across the country. 

When I was a student at UCF, I remember when Pulse opened. My roommate was a bartender there, and my first apartment was just blocks away from it. I remember getting the texts that night when my friends were trying to make sure everyone was safe. 

Immediately following that day, we pledged to honor the victims of this heinous attack with action, and now, that commitment is more important than ever before. 

In the last two years, the Florida GOP has launched a full-out assault on the LGBTQ community. By normalizing discriminatory rhetoric and by enacting hateful laws, they’ve emboldened those that wish to harm our community with their actions and their words.

And still, we continue to witness heinous acts of violence against the LGBTQ community, including the shooting at ClubQ in Colorado that claimed five more innocent lives last November. 

That’s why I’m committed to standing up in defense of our community and to being unabashedly proud of who I am. 

We’ll never forget what happened at Pulse seven years ago. It will always remind us just how fragile our community’s safety is and why we must never stop working to protect it. 

Thank you, 

Joe Saunders