Dear Madam.
It is with a sad heart and tears in my eyes that I write this.
As a gay woman in a world where I am constantly judged for my sexuality and life choices, it’s a devastating feeling to have heard that fellow gays were gunned down like trash in Sunday’s Orlando mass shooting.
Related article: Orlando shooting victim could be South African
Do our lives really mean so little to those who do not embrace our colourful existence?
What upsets me most about the shooting is that the shooter entered a place of safety to eliminate those poor people. They were in a place where they were allowed to be themselves, without the judgement and hate of the outside world.
I have been living in this world where I was under the impression we have evolved and are more accepted, but apparently this is not the case.
There are rapists, molesters and murderers running around, living in our suburbs, and that is fine! But being gay is totally unacceptable? Please do explain this?
Watching news reports and seeing how they are twisting the story to sound like a deranged ISIS attack upsets me even more! Are they so blind and naive that they can’t even recognise and admit this was a plain act of hatred towards the unknown?
Seriously! Our lives do matter as much as the next one does.
It is also sad that it took a mass murder like this to bring light on LGBT hate crimes. Thousands of us get killed daily for being different and it just gets swept under the carpet, and even in such a devastating case, it’s still being brushed off for something else.
My sincere condolences go out to every victim’s family and friends, in this difficult time.
