June is LGBT pride month. We celebrate our accomplishments during the month commemorating the long fight for equal rights as gay Americans. From the first uprising in New York City in June, 1969 until today, President Obama made clear his support of the end to this civil rights battle with the appointment of an openly gay man as the first LGBT head the U.S. Army. His appointment is a celebration of the victories LGBT people have had in a long fight to be treated equally. And yet, regardless of our progress, today marks a very sad and mournful moment in LGBT history in America. I am both happy and sad that it has echoed around the world.
As the first openly gay elected representative of the people in Red Bank, NJ – I am deeply saddened by this act of hatred. My heart is broken for the members of my LGBT community whose lives were taken or permanently altered in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub on June 12. There is no room in this world for hatred. Please look up and support the campaign and hashtag #NoH8.
Equally importantly, I wish to thank the many members of this and other communities who contacted me to express shock, anger and sadness over this massacre. Those expressions of heartfelt kindness, empathy and grief helped me with the emotional turmoil that I and so many of us experienced today as the horrific news unfolded.
This despicable act of hatred sets us back and reminds us that the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 was the beginning of a critically important movement. A movement that drove so many LGBT people to fight to be treated equally. And so today, after an enormous amount of progress and good will from our allies, we, as gay Americans are – targets of terrorism.
This is a moment in time in which we need to use the power of our grief to spring into action and urge our federal and state legislators across the nation for better gun control and greater protections. Our lives and our hearts are at stake. 50 people killed and 53 in critical condition. I’m asking you to think about whether or not this is the world in which you, or you and your children, choose to live.
Edward J. Zipprich
Councilman, Red Bank
As the first openly gay elected representative of the people in Red Bank, NJ – I am deeply saddened by this act of hatred. My heart is broken for the members of my LGBT community whose lives were taken or permanently altered in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub on June 12. There is no room in this world for hatred. Please look up and support the campaign and hashtag #NoH8.
Equally importantly, I wish to thank the many members of this and other communities who contacted me to express shock, anger and sadness over this massacre. Those expressions of heartfelt kindness, empathy and grief helped me with the emotional turmoil that I and so many of us experienced today as the horrific news unfolded.
This despicable act of hatred sets us back and reminds us that the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 was the beginning of a critically important movement. A movement that drove so many LGBT people to fight to be treated equally. And so today, after an enormous amount of progress and good will from our allies, we, as gay Americans are – targets of terrorism.
This is a moment in time in which we need to use the power of our grief to spring into action and urge our federal and state legislators across the nation for better gun control and greater protections. Our lives and our hearts are at stake. 50 people killed and 53 in critical condition. I’m asking you to think about whether or not this is the world in which you, or you and your children, choose to live.
Edward J. Zipprich
Councilman, Red Bank
