Making The Darkness Fade
An outlook on the Pulse Shooting
When the Orlando Gay Chorus had their first concert 1991, some of the members’ names did not appear in the program.
They choose not to use their names out of fear of the backlash that could occur from people discovering they were in a gay chorus, said Joel Strat, a founding member of the OGC.
“Back in the 90’s, we were sort of on our own.” Strat said. “And if you were somebody that was going to stick your neck out and do something unusual or start an organization, you were putting yourself at risk.”
Now, in 2016, the chorus no longer fears the Orlando community, but feels a part of it
“It really has allowed the gay community to be part of the Orlando, central Florida community. For the first time we are essential and we are loved,” Strat said.
Omar Mateen killed 49 patrons of Pulse Nightclub on June 12 in a terrorist attack.
The Pulse Shooting was not only the deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States, but “the most tragic event” that has happened in the history of Orlando, said the Orlando mayor, Buddy Dryer, in a press release on November 8.
As fate would have it, the LGBTQ movement began with an incident at a nightclub. In 1969, the police barged into the Stonewall Inn, a commonly known gay hangout in Greenwich Village, New York, and arrested patrons in accordance with sodomy laws.
Sodomy laws were laws enacted at the founding of the American colonies, deeming specific act of intercourse as criminal offenses because they were seen as “unnatural sins” and the highest “offensives against God.” These laws made intercourse between members of the same sex, illegal, according to the Gay and Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest.
Al Enziler, a former US Marine, recalls his fellow Jarheads going on “Fag Patrol” where they would go around the commonly known gay bars in California and arrest homosexuals.
That all changed on June 27, 1969 when the patrons of the Stonewall Inn began fighting against police and spurred riots that lasted for three days.
“It became a flash point for this verging movement,” said Dr. Michael Butler, a Flagler College professor that specializes in Civil Rights.
Unfortunately, the LGBTQ did not gain as much traction as members of the community had hoped for. Even though the LGBTQ community mimic many tactics of the African-American civil rights movement, said Butler
“The LGBTQ movement does come from the Southern rights movement, in that collective action, peaceful non-violent protest, demonstrations to draw attention to a lack of civil rights in a certain area,” said Butler.
Butler speculates that this is largely due to religious opposition against LGBTQ rights.
“If you look at the leaders of the African American civil rights movement, they were all preachers,” Butler said.
However, the Pulse shooting is a symbol of how far the LGBTQ movement has come.
“If you just look at the role of the police, that shows that there is a difference in terms of visceral force being used,” said Butler. “I mean, the police were against the LGBTQ community at Stonewall and with the Pulse shooting the police came in on the side of the LGBTQ community.”
The fact that there can be openly gay night clubs now is a testament of how far American society has progressed to accepting the LGBTQ community in the last 30 years, Butler said.
While news of the Pulse shooting began to circulate through Orlando, the OGC had already kicked into hyper drive, Strat said.
Once Carol Studer, President of the Board of Directors, heard the news about Pulse she quickly informed the chorus members that they were singing at a visual that day to honor the victims of Pulse.
After that, the chorus was non-stop for two weeks, Studer said.
They would preform one outreach a night in hopes of healing the community through music, Strat said.
“They became the ambassadors of healing and the ambassadors of hope and the ambassadors of love,” said Harold Wright, one of the choral directors of OGC.
This is not the only time the OGC has gone out of its way to help the Orlando community
For 25 years, OGC has been giving back to the Orlando community by participating in Toys-for-Tots, partnering with Children’s Social Society to found the “Big Bulging Baskets” program, and hosting a joint fundraiser with Second Harvest Food Bank.
Since Pulse, OGC has performed at visuals, memorials, on Orlando’s local news stations, NASA, and the reopening of Pulse’s gates on October 21.
Not only did OGC heal the community, but they inspired Orlando to help get involved as well.
“They are saying, ‘We want to come to your concerts. How can we help you?’ Cause they want to help us to help everybody who has been involved with this tragedy,” Wright said.
While the grim reality of what occurred at the Pulse Nightclub on June 12 still lingers in the back of our minds, the Orlando Strong and rainbows that inhabit the city of Orlando — via billboard, t-shirts, and coffee cups — are signs of a bright and colorful future.
