Song of the day:
The incredible Alex Newell won the Tony for featured male actor in a musical last night, and it was awesome. I wish this show had been playing when I was in New York earlier this year. It looks amazing.
Remembering Pulse
Seven years ago today, in the early hours of a Sunday morning, a gunman took the lives of 49 people and injured many more at a gay nightclub in Orlando. “At the time of the shooting, it was unclear if this was an act of terrorism or a hate crime. While Mateen’s family said that he had shown anger towards two gay men kissing the week before the attack, evidence discovered in the years after the attack shows that this may have been a planned act of terrorism and may have had a different target—a Disney complex—before Mateen got spooked by police.” (Source: History.com)
From my perspective, no matter how you slice it, this was a hate crime. Yes, the shooter may have had another target in mind, but they still planned to kill people, which is hatred at its core. That the victims were gay, and the gunman had a history of hatred toward the gay community, makes it clear to me that this was a hate crime. I honestly can’t believe it happened seven years ago. At the time it was the largest mass shooting in US history. A little over a year later it would become the second largest after another gunman killed 58 people and injured well over 500 others in Las Vegas.
The Tony Awards were held later that night, and the theatre world - which has long supported the LGBTQIA+ community - paid tribute throughout the night; a night that saw Hamilton win a whole bunch of awards and its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda give a speech for the ages.
Last night the Tonys were held again, on the eve of this anniversary, and in a moment that highlighted this beautiful community once more, Alex Newell became the first-ever non-binary person to win a Tony (for the performance highlighted in today’s song of the day). Later in the show, J Harrison Ghee became the second (see their winning performance in today’s video of the day). I feel especially blessed to have seen J Harrison Ghee’s performance in person when I was in New York earlier this year.
I would like to believe that going forward we can see more and more joy for the LGBTQIA+ community and far less hatred. We need more moments like last night, more moments filled with acceptance, appreciation, openness and of course, love.
Video of the day:
J Harrison Ghee plays Jerry/Daphne and you can see them playing bass, singing and dancing and generally being fantastic in this performance from last night’s Tonys.