He fought that fear with defiance: “Well, I’m going out tonight. “I had friends say this morning, ‘I’m afraid to go out to a bar,’ ” said Philip Rafshoon, who had owned the popular Outwrite gay bookstore and coffee shop. Local leaders of the LGBT community were hesitant to say the Orlando attack represented a step back from advancements such as the legalization of gay marriage and the mainstreaming of the Atlanta gay pride festival, but some people said they felt an insecurity they hadn’t experienced in years. “They are my family whether or not I know them.” “These people’s lives were destroyed by homophobia,” said Lewis Bello, a performer in local gay bars.
This was the worst mass shooting in American history, and it targeted them.
“It could happen anywhere at any time.”Ītlantans are no strangers to attacks of terror and hate, and the carnage brought people back to an anxious time when we had three terror attacks in seven months: the 1996 bombing of Centennial Olympic Park, as well as the bombings of the lesbian night club the Otherside and an abortion clinic in 1997.Įxpressions of grief and support emerged from many sectors of metro Atlanta, but the sharpest pain was felt in the LGBT community. “I wonder if it could happen here,” said Jeff Graham, executive director of Georgia Equality, an advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
