Orlando. Another marker in a seemingly interminable list of places that bears the wounds and memories of hate violence and incomprehensible tragedy: Aurora. Oak Creek. Sandy Hook. Boston. San Bernadino. Charleston (a year ago on June 17th). Wounds that reopen, personally and publicly, every time another city’s name is added to the list.  Wounds that remind us of the inability of lawmakers to put into practice the solutions and policies that would end this cycle of injury and death, which should never become mundane, expected, or normalized.

The horrific attacks in Orlando took 49 lives – almost all LGBTQ Latinx people – away from their life journeys, away from their loved ones.   Another physical space where people gather has been added to the growing number of places where violence can erupt: classrooms, places of worship, movie theaters, night clubs.

The contrasts, contradictions, and connections that converged in Orlando are overwhelming.

Race and gender identity; immigration status and  sexual orientation. Latinx and Muslim. Homophobia and Islamophobia. Gun and hate violence. Gay Pride and Ramadan. The war on terror and the war on gay rights. The revelations of the shooter’s motivations and affiliations.

As the days go on, the questions that arise after every act of gun and hate violence will continue to stay in our midst.  But the complexity of what happened in Orlando demands that our questions and efforts are even more nuanced and responsive.

How can advocates ensure that communities affected by the Orlando massacre are not demonized? How will our own communities recognize, acknowledge, center and make space for complex and nuanced identities to be seen and heard? Will cross-community solidarity on paper translate into solidarity in struggle, especially as calls for increased surveillance policies that arbitrarily target Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities continue, and as rights of queer and trans community members are not secure from the bathroom to the streets to the workplace? How will governmental authorities protect communities already on the receiving end of threats of backlash? Will law enforcement agencies use smart intelligence tactics to identify threats to public safety rather than profiling, investigating and mapping communities simply based on national origin and religion?

In response to many of these questions and others, the words of those who identify as Latinx,  Muslim and LGBTQ have provided solace, inspiration and guidance. To those who are writing, speaking out, and mobilizing in the midst of grief and pain, and despite worries about your own personal safety: your words and actions are radical acts of resistance that help all of us stand up to fear and backlash.  We are with you.

Below is a shortlist of articles and videos that center LGTBQ people of color (please add more in the comments). For information including counseling support, places to donate, and organizational statements, please share this tremendous resource list from the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA). Please support the work of organizations such as the Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity (MASGD) and the groups within the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA).

*Say Their Names:

Stanley Almodovar III, 23 years old

Amanda Alvear, 25 years old

*From Black Lives Matter: In Honor of Our Dead, Queer, Trans, Muslim, Black – We Will Be Free.

*Rejecting Islamophobia as a Queer Latina in the Wake of the Orlando Shooting by Delma Catalina Limones

*Queer Muslims Confront Intersectional Challenges, featuring members of MASGD, USA Today

*Gay Pride, Ramadan, and Solidarity After Orlando by Muneer Ahmad in The Nation

*Post-Pulse Massacre, Moving Forward Means Rejecting Scarcity and Fear by Yas Ahmed in Colorlines

*Latinx LGBTQ Community and Its Stories of Survival Should Be at Center of Orlando Response, Democracy Now

*When the One Place That Feels Like Home Has Been Invaded by Miriam Zoila Perez in Colorlines

*Please Don’t Stop the Music by Richard Kim in The Nation

*Why We Will Keep Dancing by Ignatius Bau