Gainesville locals turned to love and community strength Sunday in the wake of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando.
The gunman, who authorities identified as Omar Mateen, was a 29-year-old security guard from Port St. Lucie, Florida. He targeted the club, Pulse, early Sunday morning, and he died in a gunfight with police officers there.
He shot and injured 103 people, and at least 50 of those people have been confirmed dead, according to the Associated Press.
As the investigation continues at the club, families have been waiting to hear the names of those injured or killed.
In response, the Pride Community Center of North Central Florida, located at 3131 NW 13th St., hosted a safe place for Gainesville residents Sunday afternoon.
Some attendees said they felt discriminated against, while others said this would make them stronger and would continue to support the community by going to pride parades.
There was no discussion of current gun laws.
“The hate is the weapon,” one LGBTQ+ identifier said.
The co-president of the center, Terry Fleming, said he is particularly disturbed the attack happened in what was supposed to be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.
“When that is shattered, it’s difficult to deal with,” Fleming said.
To put on the event, Fleming partnered with the director of the Alachua County Crisis Center, Ali Martinez.
Fleming and Martinez said they created the safe space so people could talk openly about their feelings.
Martinez said she recognized the LGBTQ+ community was “feeling that much more vulnerable” today.
“People need a chance to express all their difficult feelings,” the 39-year-old said.
Martinez said anyone can share his or her feelings at the Alachua County Crisis Center, which offers free crisis services and has a hotline open 24 hours each day at 352-264-6789.
In order to get through this, she said, people need to turn toward community, connection and healing.
“We need to keep talking; we need to hold each other,” Martinez said.
