This is not the first time LGBT people have been killed en mass in their clubs. For many who’ve never known the security of a truly secure and happy home or school or work life, these places are the homes and churches where we celebrate and extinguish despair with our families of choice. This is why the first important public post-Stonewall gay disco in Manhattan was named Sanctuary why one of the biggest and longest-running queer dancefloors of London is called Heaven and why the most beloved current LGBT club in San Francisco is known as Oasis. They’re our safe spaces places where music and dancing and the joy of our collective togetherness unlocks our fears and extinguishes our lingering self-loathing. Nightclubs are where we’ve long learned to unlearn hate, and learn to become and love our real selves. Since Stonewall and well before, gay clubs have been our schools, our places of worship. Shooting at Orlando Nightclub Leaves 50 Dead in Largest Mass Shooting in U.S.
