Orlando terror: Why this hate hits too close to home
THE terror attack on Pulse in Orlando has rattled me, not just as a gay man, but as someone who enjoys the freedoms we so often take for granted.
The stories from this abominable hate crime are so tragic, too heartbreaking to even begin to comprehend.
This is far beyond an attack on just a nightclub.
It's an attack on the one place for decades where people have expressed their sexuality without fear of persecution.
A place that should have been filled with laughter, with dancing and great memories, first kisses, that first taste of the freedom to be yourself.
And now sadly, the last for many.
There's no justification for this terror.
And there's certainly no justification for the hateful rhetoric arising across social media.
This is more than just an attack on the LGBTI community. It's an attack on our very freedom as people.
The freedom to dance, to love, to smile, to laugh, to be yourself.
Hate will not heal these wounds.
As Martin Luther King Jnr once said.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.
"Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
